nervous

1 feeling or showing uncomfortable feelings of uncertainty <he was nervous about how he would do at the varsity basketball tryouts> Synonyms aflutter, antsy, anxious, atwitter, dithery, edgy, goosey, het up, hinky [slang], hung up, ill at ease, insecure, jittery, jumpy, nervy, perturbed, queasy (also queazy), tense, troubled, uneasy, unquiet, upset, uptight, worried Related Words aggrieved, bothered, concerned, disquieted, distraught, distressed, disturbed, freaked, freaked-out, shook-up; apprehensive, foreboding, hesitant, misgiving; fretful, fretting, stewing, vexed; qualmish, qualmy; flustered, twittered, undone, unnerved, unstrung; obsessed, preoccupied, restless; fidgety, flighty, fluttery, high-strung, hypertense, skittish, spooky Phrases keyed up, on edge, on pins and needles, on tenterhooks Near Antonyms confident, self-assured, self-confident, sure; controlled, self-controlled Antonyms calm, collected, cool, easy, happy-go-lucky, nerveless, relaxed

2 marked by or causing agitation or uncomfortable feelings <a nervous silence filled the room as the teacher handed out the graded exams> Synonyms agitating, anxious, creepy, disquieting, distressful, distressing, disturbing, fraught, hairy, nail-biting, nerve-racking (or nerve-wracking), restless, tense, uneasy, unnerving, unsettling, worrisome Related Words bothersome, troublesome; foreboding, misgiving; discouraging, disheartening, strained; restive, restless, unrestful; awkward, embarrassing Near Antonyms restful; pacific Antonyms calming, comfortable, easy, peaceful, quiet, quieting, tranquil

3 easily excited by nature <a nervous sort of person, she's completely thrown by anything unexpected> Synonyms fiddle-footed, flighty, fluttery, high-strung, hyper, hyperactive, hyperexcitable, hyperkinetic, jittery, jumpy, excitable, skittery, skittish, spasmodic, spookyRelated Words hot-blooded, mercurial, temperamental, unstable, volatile, volcanic; anxious, edgy, flibbertigibbety, nervy, tense, uptight; emotional, emotionalistic, hypersensitive, intense, sensitive, soulful; dramatic, histrionic, melodramatic; irascible, irritable, perturbable, prickly, testy, touchyNear Antonyms calm, collected, cool, serene, tranquil; easy, easygoing, laid-back, relaxedAntonyms imperturbable, nerveless, unexcitable, unflappable, unshakable