Kilo Lingo

/ˈnaɪtmeə/

Line drawing of nightmare
Coloured illustration of nightmare
#1708 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

A frightening dream; or a very bad experience.

Word origin

From night plus the Old English mare, an evil spirit once believed to sit on a sleeper.

Origin
Middle English
Root
mare
English cognates
night

Grammar

Gender
Pluralnightmares

Examples

.

A "nightmare" is a bad dream.

.

"Nightmares" is the plural form.

.

People also call a very bad experience a "nightmare".

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This word is part of lesson 35.