Meaning

3 senses

  1. (intransitive)To experience a nightmare.

  2. (transitive)To imagine (someone or something) as in a nightmare.

  3. (transitive)To trouble (someone or something), as by a nightmare.

Examples

385 sentences

  1. My worst nightmare is coming true.

    Справджується мій найгірший кошмар. — deniko

    deMein schlimmster Alptraum bewahrheitet sich gerade. — Pfirsichbaeumchen

    Hybrid · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. I had a nightmare.

    Мені приснився кошмар. — deniko

    ruМне приснился кошмар. — sharptoothed

    deIch hatte einen Alptraum. — MUIRIEL

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. It was a nightmare.

    Це було жахливо. — deniko

    ruЭто был ночной кошмар. — odexed

    deEs war ein Alptraum. — MUIRIEL

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. It's been a nightmare.

    То був кошмар. — older

    deEs war ein Alptraum. — MUIRIEL

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. I still have nightmares.

    Мене все ще мучають кошмари. — deniko

    deIch habe immer noch Albträume. — wolfgangth

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Origin

From Middle English nyghtmare, from Old English *nihtmare, equivalent to night + mare (“ev

From Middle English nyghtmare, from Old English *nihtmare, equivalent to night + mare (“evil spirit believed to afflict a sleeping person”). Cognate with Scots nichtmare and nichtmeer, Dutch nachtmerrie, Middle Low German nachtmār, German Nachtmahr.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

nightmares, nightmaring, nightmared, nightmared
Base formnightmare · to nightmare
3rd person singularnightmares
Present participlenightmaring
Past simplenightmared
Past participlenightmared

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theynightmare
he, she, itnightmares

Past simpleLesson

all personsnightmared

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave nightmared
he, she, ithas nightmared

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill nightmare

Word family

2 related words
Relatednight terrorsleep paralysis

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
nightlightnightlynightmarishnightsnightshadenightstand

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

nightmare — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto