Entry Word: unnerve

Function: verb

Meaning: 1 to deprive of courage or confidence <the riding accident so unnerved me that for a while I was afraid to get back on a horse>

Synonyms demoralize, emasculate, undo, unman, unstring

Related Words debilitate, enervate, enfeeble, weaken; prostrate, sap, soften, tire, waste; frighten, scare, terrify, terrorize; daunt, discourage, dishearten, dismay, dispirit; craze, derange, madden, unbalance, unhinge; discompose, disquiet, disturb, faze, perturb, unsettle, upset

Near Antonyms fortify, strengthen; embolden, encourage, hearten

Antonyms nerve

2 to lessen the courage or confidence of <a figure skater canʼt afford to be unnerved by an occasional slipup> — see discourage 1