nervous
Americanadjective
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highly excitable; unnaturally or acutely uneasy or apprehensive.
to become nervous under stress.
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of or relating to the nerves.
nervous tension.
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affecting the nerves.
nervous diseases.
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experiencing, characterized by, or originating in a nervous system disorder.
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characterized by or attended with acute uneasiness or apprehension.
a nervous moment for us all.
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having or containing nerves.
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sinewy or strong.
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Archaic. vigorous or spirited.
adjective
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very excitable or sensitive; highly strung
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(often foll by of) apprehensive or worried
I'm nervous of traffic
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of, relating to, or containing nerves; neural
nervous tissue
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affecting the nerves or nervous tissue
a nervous disease
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archaic active, vigorous, or forceful
Other Word Forms
- nervously adverb
- nervousness noun
- nonnervous adjective
- nonnervously adverb
- overnervous adjective
- overnervously adverb
- seminervous adjective
- seminervously adverb
- unnervous adjective
- unnervously adverb
Etymology
Origin of nervous
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin nervōsus “sinewy,” equivalent to nerv(us) nerve + -ōsus -ous
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.
MS is defined by ongoing inflammation and demyelination within the central nervous system.
From Science Daily
Joan describes how those letters eventually led to a nervous face-to-face meeting after Jacob was released from jail.
From BBC
“The only thing that makes me nervous as a long-term strategist is that we’re all in the same camp.”
“I didn’t really know Paul, and I had to get so intimate and so upset but hold it together, and I was a bit nervous,” Jacobi recalls.
From Los Angeles Times
“It was very defeating,” said Martin, who has been teaching English in Madrid since her May 2025 graduation and is nervous about rebooting her corporate job search.
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.
