Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

highly strung

British  

adjective

  1. tense and easily upset; excitable; nervous

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Highly strung and nervous persons are requested to leave the hall during this turn.

From Time Magazine Archive

Highly strung and nervously eager, Elliott took the kick-off on her seven yard line and advanced the ball, under splendid interference, for nineteen yards before being downed.

From Interference and Other Football Stories by Sherman, Harold Morrow

Highly strung as was his religious zeal, nature could not but speak out at last.

From The Life of St. Paul by Stalker, James

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.