jim2魘魇
Jyutpingjim2
Yaleyím
Definition
To have a nightmare; to experience bad dreams.
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How it's used
魘 is almost exclusively used in the compound 魘親 to describe the experience of having a nightmare. It carries a sense of being physically oppressed or unable to move during the dream, similar to sleep paralysis. While it can be used as a verb, it is rarely used in formal writing and remains a very common colloquial way to describe a bad dream.
Examples
I had a nightmare while sleeping last night, it scared me to death.
Related words
Common mistake
Learners often confuse 魘 with 夢, but 夢 is just the general word for dream. 魘 specifically implies a distressing or frightening experience that wakes you up or leaves you feeling unsettled.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
