French Word of the Day: Cauchemardesque
Need to bring a little extra drama to your complaints? This will help.
Why do I need to know cauchemardesque?
This word may come up in casual conversations when someone is complaining or you might also see it in the press to describe a wide range of topics.
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What does it mean?
The French adjective cauchemardesque, roughly pronounced kohsh-mar-desk (listen here) means nightmarish, something that is disturbing or deeply unpleasant.
It can describe a genuinely terrifying, hellish or traumatic situation.
But it is also often used figuratively for situations that are chaotic, stressful or seemingly impossible to escape. It has a dramatic feel to it when used in a manner to describe a disastrous journey, a bureaucratic ordeal, a sports game or a particularly difficult day at work – in other words a situation that is more annoying than genuinely nightmare-like, but where it’s fun to add some drama to the complaints.
The word comes from cauchemar (nightmare) + the suffix -esque. The suffix is used to form adjectives meaning “in the style of”, “resembling” or “characteristic of” something. It appears in other French words such as grotesque (grotesque) and pittoresque (picturesque).
Use it like this
Les automobilistes ont vécu une journée cauchemardesque sur les routes. – Motorists endured a hellish day on the roads.
Nous avons passé une nuit cauchemardesque à l’hôtel. – We had a dreadful night at the hotel.
Le match de la France était cauchemardesque. Ils ont perdu la finale. – France’s match was a nightmare. They lost in the final.
Examples in the French press
Lyon. Le chantier cauchemardesque de cet hôpital remonte à la surface : les responsables se déchirent en justice (Actu.fr) – Lyon: The nightmarish construction project at this hospital resurfaces as those responsible face off in court
« On a cru mourir » : dépressurisation, atterrissage en urgence… Le vol cauchemardesque Marrakech-Brest (Ouest-France) – “We thought we were going to die”: Emergency depressurisation and landing… The nightmarish Marrakech-Brest flight
« C’est cauchemardesque » : en première ligne des pillages, les commerçants affichent leur désarroi (Les Echos) – “It’s a nightmare”: Shopkeepers on the front line of looting speak of their distress
