unnerving
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unnerving
Explanation
Use the adjective unnerving to describe situations and experiences that cause you to lose your courage. No matter how brave you are, a walk alone through a cemetery at night is bound to be a little unnerving. You might find it unnerving to get a flat tire on a deserted country road at sunset, or to find yourself onstage mid-play having completely forgotten your lines. In the 1620's, the root word unnerve meant "to destroy the strength of," but by the early 1700's it came to mean "to deprive of courage."
Vocabulary lists containing unnerving
The Dead and the Gone
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Ten Words from The New York Times - June 5, 2013
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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.
Unnerving and wildly entertaining, “Severance” is set inside the antiseptic offices and hallways of the enigmatic Lumon Industries, where employees have had their memories surgically divided between their work and personal lives.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 4, 2022
Unnerving news about the Omicron variant began to emerge from South Africa on Thursday, as Wall Street was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.
From New York Times • Nov. 29, 2021
Unnerving though the video is, the police are correct that there’s nothing illegal in it.
From Salon • Jan. 9, 2014
Unnerving to world economies is the prospect of the United States defaulting on its financial obligations on Thursday if Congress fails to raise the borrowing authority above the $16.7 trillion debt limit.
From Time • Oct. 14, 2013
Unnerving computer printouts from the pharmacist began arriving: “Maximum benefit reached.”
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
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.
