unnerved; unnerving; unnerves
1
: to deprive of courage, strength, or steadiness
2
: to cause to become nervous : upset
Synonyms
Examples of unnerve in a Sentence
Seeing the police in there unnerved me.
She was unnerved by his strange manner.
Recent Examples on the Web
Those labor strikes were unprecedented, but the revelations around Cruise’s back-and-forth with regulators were also unnerving GM shareholders.
—
Jessica Mathews, Fortune, 16 May 2024
According to a new biography, Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy by Elizabeth Beller, excerpted in this week’s issue of PEOPLE, Diana’s death after a high-speed chase by photographers in Paris unnerved Carolyn.
—People Staff, Peoplemag, 16 May 2024
Two of the groups that Mr. Kennedy performed strongest with in the surveys — voters under 30 (18 percent support) and Latinos (14 percent) — have traditionally been strong Democratic constituencies, unnerving some party strategists.
—Neil Vigdor, New York Times, 14 May 2024
But perhaps most notably, the G 580’s combination of prodigious mass and elevated height contributes to a sense of unnerving jounciness on the road.
—Brett Berk, Robb Report, 13 May 2024
The way these discussions polarize society unnerved Ms. Tang, an entrepreneur and former deputy editor of Vogue China.
—Alexandra Stevenson, New York Times, 6 May 2024
What makes Baby Reindeer so endlessly fascinating is the interplay of Donny’s modular parts—his ego, his material, his gender, his trauma—and stalking as a catalyst that unnerves all four.
—Raven Smith, Vogue, 3 May 2024
The crowd is appropriately reverent on this religious holy day as percussionist/composer Ches Smith begins, leading his unclassifiable ensemble Laugh Ash through a maze of scrambled electronics, free-jazz vibraphone, and orchestrations that shift from unnerving to sweet.
—Ryan Reed, SPIN, 27 Mar. 2024
But those who remember have been unnerved by the military’s return to the small island.
—Stephanie Yang, Los Angeles Times, 28 Feb. 2024
Jessica Mathews, Fortune, 16 May 2024
According to a new biography, Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy by Elizabeth Beller, excerpted in this week’s issue of PEOPLE, Diana’s death after a high-speed chase by photographers in Paris unnerved Carolyn.
—People Staff, Peoplemag, 16 May 2024
Two of the groups that Mr. Kennedy performed strongest with in the surveys — voters under 30 (18 percent support) and Latinos (14 percent) — have traditionally been strong Democratic constituencies, unnerving some party strategists.
—Neil Vigdor, New York Times, 14 May 2024
But perhaps most notably, the G 580’s combination of prodigious mass and elevated height contributes to a sense of unnerving jounciness on the road.
—Brett Berk, Robb Report, 13 May 2024
The way these discussions polarize society unnerved Ms. Tang, an entrepreneur and former deputy editor of Vogue China.
—Alexandra Stevenson, New York Times, 6 May 2024
What makes Baby Reindeer so endlessly fascinating is the interplay of Donny’s modular parts—his ego, his material, his gender, his trauma—and stalking as a catalyst that unnerves all four.
—Raven Smith, Vogue, 3 May 2024
The crowd is appropriately reverent on this religious holy day as percussionist/composer Ches Smith begins, leading his unclassifiable ensemble Laugh Ash through a maze of scrambled electronics, free-jazz vibraphone, and orchestrations that shift from unnerving to sweet.
—Ryan Reed, SPIN, 27 Mar. 2024
But those who remember have been unnerved by the military’s return to the small island.
—Stephanie Yang, Los Angeles Times, 28 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unnerve.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Unnerve.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unnerve. Accessed 23 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
unnerve
verb
un·nerve
ˌən-ˈnərv 
ˈən-
unnerved; unnerving
: to deprive of nerve, courage, or self-control
the accident unnerved me
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