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.
“It was nerve-racking, but knowing our team is one, the nervousness turns to confidence,” Seung said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
"It comes from the right place, that nervousness," he says, "but at the same time, more and more evidence is growing and we're getting the results" and that "there is a benefit" to men.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Sanz said a telephone line had been set up to "allow us to immediately deal with these anxiety crises, this nervousness among the public".
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
Lee also asserts that the recent poor reactions to technology earning beats don’t reflect that profit prospects are priced in, but that the broader market is just enduring a period of nervousness.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Something inside me loosened a bit, like Nan’s pride in me had melted away the tight nervousness I’d carried without knowing it was even there.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
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.
