# nightmare

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈnaɪt.mɛə/ · frequency rank #5,239

## Definitions
1. A very unpleasant or frightening dream.
2. Any bad, miserable, difficult or terrifying situation or experience that arouses anxiety, terror, agony or great displeasure.
3. A demon or monster, thought to plague people while they slept and cause a feeling of suffocation and terror during sleep.
4. A feeling of extreme anxiety or suffocation experienced during sleep; sleep paralysis.

## Etymology
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.

## Common misspellings (14)
`inghtmare`, `ngihtmare`, `nigghtmare`, `nighhtmare`, `nighmtare`, `nightamre`, `nightmaer`, `nightmarre`, `nightmmare`, `nightmrae`, `nighttmare`, `nigthmare`, `nihgtmare`, `nnightmare`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/nightmare