1
general::
nightmare
adjectives
an absolute/complete nightmare
• The whole day was an absolute nightmare.
a real nightmare
• The situation with our neighbours is a real nightmare!
the ultimate nightmare
(= the worst possible situation )
• The ultimate nightmare for any parent is to suffer the loss of a child.
somebody's worst nightmare
(= the worst possible situation )
• The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was farming's worst nightmare.
a long nightmare
• How can we bring an end to the long nightmare in the Middle East?
a living/waking nightmare
(= something extremely bad that happens in your life )
• Being told I had cancer was a waking nightmare.
a logistical nightmare
(= something that is very complicated and difficult to organize )
• Arranging childcare during the summer can be a logistical nightmare.
an administrative/bureaucratic nightmare
(= something that is very complicated and difficult to keep accurate records of )
• Dealing with so many new applications for asylum is an administrative nightmare.
a personal/private nightmare
(= a very bad situation that affects only one person )
• His personal nightmare began when he was arrested for murder.
verbs
be a nightmare
• The whole holiday was a nightmare.
become/turn into a nightmare
• Their honeymoon turned into a nightmare when they were involved in a car accident.
a nightmare begins
• The nightmare began when her mother fell ill.
a nightmare ends
• We just want this nightmare to end!
end a nightmare
• He longed for something to end the nightmare.
a nightmare comes true
(= something bad that someone fears actually happens )
• The company's worst financial nightmare has now come true.
nightmare + NOUN
the nightmare scenario
(= the worst possible situation )
• Emergency planners are trying to prepare for this nightmare scenario.
a nightmare vision
(= a very bad situation that might happen )
• The book gives us a nightmare vision of a family destroyed by one man's secrets.
a nightmare world
(= a situation in which everything is bad and there is nothing good )
• It's hard to understand how people survived the nightmare world of the concentration camps.
a nightmare journey/trip
(= an extremely unpleasant journey )
• Commuters are facing a nightmare journey to work due to the tube drivers strike.
transnet.ir
2
general::
noun bad dream ADJ. awful, horrible, terrible, terrifying | continuing, recurring VERB + NIGHTMARE have, suffer | wake (up) from | give sb The film gave me nightmares. PREP. ~ about I have nightmares about drowning. bad/feared experience ADJ. absolute, awful, horrible, real, terrible, terrifying | worst Losing a child is my worst nightmare. | personal | living The refugees had survived a living nightmare. | administrative, bureaucratic, financial, etc. VERB + NIGHTMARE endure, face, suffer, survive | become, prove, turn into Their dream of living in the country turned into a nightmare when they both fell seriously ill. | create | escape (from) NIGHTMARE + VERB be over | come true NIGHTMARE + NOUN scenario, vision the nightmare scenario of mass unemployment The writer evokes a nightmare vision of a future on a polluted planet. | world | journey
Oxford Collocations Dictionary