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In English, the word "nightmare" isn't used just literally for a bad dream you
have at night-time, but also metaphorically to describe a very bad scenario,
such as "Can Samsung recover from its Galaxy Note 7 nightmare?".

Can 悪夢 be used metaphorically? jisho.org seems to suggest it can't be, but
I've seen someone translate a metaphorical use of "nightmare" using "悪夢",
possibly incorrectly.
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2016-10-22T07:35:51.147
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translation meaning
Can "悪夢" be used metaphorically?
**Yes**. 悪夢 can be used metaphorically.

See [this dictionary
entry](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/2956/meaning/m1u/%E6%82%AA%E5%A4%A2/):

> １ いやな恐ろしい夢。また、不吉な夢。「―にうなされる」
>
> ２ 夢としか思えないような、思い出すのもいやで恐ろしい現実のたとえ。「戦争の―」

2 is what you mentioned. For example, 戦争の悪夢 is like "nightmare of war".
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Absolutely.

i.e.,

> 津波｛つなみ｝を見｛み｝て、まるで悪夢｛あくむ｝を見｛み｝ているかのようだ！

Watching the tsunami was such a nightmare!

It just really stresses that the situation was one of the worst, or like a
nightmare.
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In English, the word "nightmare" is very often used metaphorically. When it's
used literally, it's often within a story, novel, movie, ... .

I'd say in Jp, the word 悪夢 is used metaphorically with an even greater
frequency. -- or that 悪夢 is used literally with an even smaller frequency.

It's an interesting puzzle to wonder why that is.
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