Learn Greek › B1 › εφιάλτης
εφιάλτης
nightmare /efiˈaltis/
nounB1#1311 most common
Also: ordeal, terrible experience
Example sentences
Είδα έναν εφιάλτη.
I had a nightmare.
Ο μικρός ξύπνησε κλαίγοντας από έναν εφιάλτη.
The little boy woke up crying from a nightmare.
Αυτή η ταινία ήταν πραγματικός εφιάλτης.
That film was a real nightmare.
Το ταξίδι μας μετατράπηκε σε εφιάλτη λόγω της κακοκαιρίας.
Our trip turned into a nightmare because of the bad weather.
Οι εφιάλτες που τον βασανίζουν από τον πόλεμο δεν τον αφήνουν να κοιμηθεί ήσυχος.
The nightmares that have tormented him since the war do not let him sleep peacefully.
Η γραφειοκρατία έχει μετατραπεί σε εφιάλτη για τις μικρομεσαίες επιχειρήσεις, που πλέον αδυνατούν να ανταπεξέλθουν στις απαιτήσεις.
Bureaucracy has turned into a nightmare for small and medium businesses, which can no longer keep up with the demands.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ο εφιάλτης | οι εφιάλτες |
| Genitive | του εφιάλτη | των εφιαλτών |
| Accusative | τον εφιάλτη | τους εφιάλτες |
| Vocative | εφιάλτη | εφιάλτες |
Word family
εφιαλτικόςnightmarish
εφιαλτικάin a nightmarish way
εφιάλτεςnightmares (plural)
Etymology
The word descends from ancient Greek ἐφιάλτης, built on ἐφάλλομαι, meaning to leap upon. Greeks pictured a demon that leapt onto sleepers and sat on their chest, causing suffocating bad dreams. That image gave the word its meaning of nightmare, a sense it has kept into modern Greek, now also used for any ordeal.
Learn Greek the way that sticks.
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 3,509 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 3,509 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free