nightmarishadj.
/ˈnʌɪtmɛːrɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈnaɪtˌmɛrɪʃ/ Resembling or of the nature of a nightmare; extremely frightening; (in weakened use) dreadful, terrible.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > quality of being eerie > [adjective] > resembling a nightmare
nightmarea1821
nightmarish1834
nightmarey1851
nightmare-like1919
1834 Fraser's Mag. 10 439 That wild, disjointed, nightmareish inspiration, which seems the essence of German romanticism.
1872 C. King Mountaineering in Sierra Nevada ix After sleeping on the nightmarish brink of the falls.
1890 Athenæum 9 Aug. 189/2 The story is restrained..in tone, yet there are lurid and nightmarish touches.
1930 G. Heyer Barren Corn 150 For a moment he stood as it were outside this nightmarish party, and looked on with cool, cynical eyes.
1955 Times 13 July 9/3 There is still something extraordinary and nightmarish in the constant news of food shortages and agricultural difficulties.
1984 Which? Oct. (Car Suppl.) 19/1 Visibility nightmarish for parking; poor wiper.
Derivatives
ˈnightmarishly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > dream > [adverb] > like or in the manner of > nightmare
nightmare-like1832
nightmarishly1891
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > extremely or exceedingly > excessively
cruellyc1385
overa1400
fullc1400
parlouslyc1425
mortalc1440
perilousc1440
spitefulc1450
devilish1560
pestilently1567
spitefully1567
cruel1573
parlous1575
deadly1589
intolerable?1593
fellc1600
perditlya1632
excessively1634
devilishly1635
desperate1636
woundya1639
woundlya1644
desperately1653
wicked1663
killing1672
woundily1706
wounded1753
mortally1759
dreadful1762
intolerably1768
perishing1776
tremendously1776
terrifically1777
diabolically1792
woundedly1794
thundering1809
all-firedly1833
preponderously1835
painfully1839
deadlilya1843
severely1854
furiously1856
diabolish1858
fiendish1861
demonish1867
sinfully1869
fiendishly1879
thunderingly1885
only too1889
nightmarishly1891
God almighty1906
Christ almighty1945
1891 Sat. Rev. 4 Apr. 425/2 It is..unspeakably and nightmarishly dull.
1934 A. Huxley Beyond Mexique Bay 249 Then, nightmarishly proliferating, appear the Pittsburgs and Birminghams, the Osakas and Calcuttas of this unhappy world.
1995 Independent 28 Dec. 10/2 Nightmarishly, the dreaded paperwork seemed to have taken control.
ˈnightmarishness n.
ΚΠ
1930 L. D. Bronshtein tr. L. Trotsky My Life xxi. 262 The peculiar prison night-silence, saturated with heavy vapors and night-marishness.
1994 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 9 Dec. c3/2 A scrim and an abundance of smoke enhance the misty nightmarishness.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1834