nervousness
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of nervousness
Explanation
Nervousness is a quality of feeling anxious, worried, or alarmed. Your nervousness about flying in an airplane for the first time shouldn't keep you from fulfilling your dream of traveling to Iceland! Nervousness takes many forms. What's thrilling to one person —skydiving, public speaking, hosting a party — makes others feel nervous down to their bones. Your dog's nervousness around loud city traffic might finally convince you to move to the country, while your brother might end up outgrowing his nervousness around animals and wind up becoming a vet someday. Nervousness can involve sweating and trembling, or it can be invisible to observers.
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.
In generalized anxiety disorder, for example, people may worry excessively about ordinary events and struggle to control nervousness or fear.
From Science Daily • May 16, 2026
But as Russia rolls out unpopular restrictions and a decisive military victory appears more and more out of reach, the scaled-back celebrations come amid increased nervousness in Moscow.
From Barron's • May 7, 2026
That, combined with his understandable nervousness, caused him to short-arm his first fastball, which sailed at Cey’s head, sending him sprawling into the dirt.
From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2026
He going to give you those moments of nervousness.
From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026
My body felt like a tightly wound coil, but it wasn’t just nervousness anymore.
From "The First Rule of Punk" by Celia C. Pérez
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.
