white-knuckle

Often white-knuck·led

[hwahyt-nuhk-uhl, wahyt-]

adjective

Informal.

1. causing fear, apprehension, or panic.

   The plane made a white-knuckle approach to the fogged-in airport.

2. experiencing fear, terror, or apprehension.

   The white-knuckle crowd loved that director's newest horror movie.

white-knuckle

adjective

1. causing or experiencing fear or anxiety

   a white-knuckle ride

Example Sentences

Perched 8,750 feet up in a box canyon in the Colorado Rockies, it’s reachable only by twisting roads or a white-knuckle drop into one of the nation’s highest airports.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The nifty premise of “Relay,” a new white-knuckle ride from “Hell or High Water” director David Mackenzie, is that a certain type of tech-savvy hero can, if not completely ease your anxiety, at least navigate a secret truce with those out to get you.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It was a white-knuckle, high-wire business fit only for daredevils.

Read more on BBC

President Donald Trump is sweating his party's white-knuckle grip on the House of Representatives, and he's pulled yet another Cabinet nomination to avoid making the GOP's legislative troubles any worse.

Read more on Salon

It’s kind of a white-knuckle ride.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• close call 
• shocker