nervous

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adjective

Definition of 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, nervous, skittery, skittish, spasmodic, spooky

Related 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, touchy

Near Antonyms calm, collected, cool, serene, tranquil; easy, easygoing, laid-back, relaxed

Antonyms imperturbable, nerveless, unexcitable, unflappable, unshakable