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📕 rednote ID(小红书号)：3881567312

Nightmare Definition, Usage & Real-Life Examples (2 meaning)

Meaning 1：terrible experience (nightmare)

nightmare 🔊

/ˈnaɪt.meər/

A very bad, frightening, or stressful real-life experience or situation.

Nightmare illustration: stressed person stuck in traffic jam at night, feeling anxious and late.

terrible experience 🔊

➕

/ˈterəbl ɪkˈspɪəriəns/

An extremely unpleasant, difficult, or distressing situation in real life.

📁 Category：Social Economy 🔖 Level：初级

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From Old English 'niht' (night) + 'mare' (evil spirit thought to sit on sleepers).

💡 Mnemonic

A 'mare' (evil spirit) visits at 'night' to give you a bad dream.

📖 Example

Trying to commute across the city during the rush hour traffic jam was an absolute nightmare. 🔊 The attempt to travel across the city during the rush hour traffic jam was a completely terrible experience.

🔗 Collocations

living nightmare – a terrible situation that feels never-ending

become a nightmare – to develop into a very bad situation

absolute nightmare – a completely terrible experience

🔄 Synonyms

ordeal (n.) – a very unpleasant and prolonged experience

horror (n.) – an intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust, or a situation causing this

fiasco (n.) – a complete failure, especially in a ludicrous or humiliating way

🚫 Antonyms

bliss (n.) – perfect happiness; great joy

joy (n.) – a feeling of great pleasure and happiness

pleasure (n.) – a feeling of happy satisfaction and enjoyment

🌱 Derivatives

nightmarish (adj.) – resembling a nightmare; very frightening or unpleasant

📖 Cultural Story

Originally referred to a 'mare', a female evil spirit or goblin in Germanic folklore believed to torment sleepers, causing feelings of suffocation and bad dreams. The modern sense of a frightening dream dates to the 16th century.

Meaning 2：bad dream (nightmare)

nightmare 🔊

/ˈnaɪt.meər/

A frightening or very upsetting dream that happens while you are sleeping.

bad dream 🔊

➕

/bæd driːm/

A frightening or disturbing dream that occurs during sleep, often causing the sleeper to wake up feeling scared or anxious.

📁 Category：Physical & Mental Health 🔖 Level：初级

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Example

The child woke up crying because she had a nightmare about monsters. 🔊 The child awoke in tears because she experienced a bad dream involving monsters.

🔗 Collocations

have a nightmare – to experience a frightening dream while sleeping

recurring nightmare – a bad dream that happens repeatedly

nightmare about – a bad dream featuring a specific subject

🔄 Synonyms

bad dream (n.) – a dream that is unpleasant or frightening

night terror (n.) – a sleep disturbance causing feelings of terror or dread, often with no recall of a dream

incubus (n.) – a male demon believed to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women; a source of distress like a nightmare

🚫 Antonyms

pleasant dream (n.) – a nice or enjoyable dream

sweet dream (n.) – a good and peaceful dream