Nightmarish
Nightmarish adjective - Extremely disturbing or repellent.
Usage example: a photographic exhibit of nightmarish images from the wars of the 20th century
Scary is a synonym for nightmarish in frightening topic. In some cases you can use "Scary" instead an adjective "Nightmarish". informal substitute
Nearby Word: nightmare
Scary
Scary adjective - Causing fear.
Usage example: a scary movie that gave the child nightmares for weeks afterwards
Mutual synonyms
Related pairs
Both words in one sentence
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It's possible that she's also multidimensional, as she mentions that she can teleport without using the Arc because she exists both in the real world and the world she lives in, which just so happens to be scary and nightmarish.
Source: Little Miss Badass -
The Straw Man is a demonic being who is certainly scary and was one of the Fear Lords, along with other nightmarish beings like Nightmare, D'Spayre, and Nox.
Source: Scary Scarecrows -
And the actual series had the slightly less nightmarish but still pretty scary buzzard wasps.
Source: Mix-and-Match Critters
Cite this Source
Scary and Nightmarish. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/nightmarish/scary
Nightmarish & Scary. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/nightmarish/scary>.
Scary or Nightmarish. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/nightmarish/scary.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "nightmarish" and "scary" have occurred on timeline