night terror


noun Psychiatry.

a sudden feeling of extreme fear that awakens a sleeping person, usually during slow-wave sleep, and is not associated with a dream or nightmare.
Also called sleep-terror disorder.

Origin of night terror

First recorded in 1895–1900

British Dictionary definitions for night terrors

night terrors

pl n

a condition in which a person, usually a child, suddenly starts from sleep in a state of extreme fear but cannot later remember the incident