hit/strike/touch a nerve

phrase

: to make someone feel angry, upset, embarrassed, etc.

Something she said to him must have hit/struck/touched a nerve. I've never seen him so angry.

His controversial column might have hit a (raw/sensitive) nerve with some readers.

Examples of hit/strike/touch a nerve in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

David, marveling near-tears at the results of his reconstructive surgery, makes for a moving moment — who knew a documentary about penile enhancement could touch a nerve and the heart, too? — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 17 Mar. 2026

Nvidia’s dustup with OpenAI appeared to have hit a nerve, causing the former’s stock price to continue its weeks-long plunge, dropping almost nine percent over the last five days. — Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 4 Feb. 2026

Even as some celebrate its possibilities (drug discovery) and others decry its ramifications (environmental impacts, job erasure), the suggestion that AI’s killer app could be a Loneliness Cure seemed to hit a nerve. — Angela Watercutter, Wired News, 22 Dec. 2025

Stewart’s diatribe—the comedic edge of which could not mask its furious sincerity—hit a nerve. — Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 13 Dec. 2025