white-knuckle

adjective

white-knuck·le ˈ(h)wīt-ˈnə-kəl

variants or less commonly white-knuckled

ˈ(h)wīt-ˈnə-kəld

: marked by, causing, or experiencing tense nervousness

a white-knuckle ride on a roller coaster

a white-knuckle passenger

white-knuckler

ˈ(h)wīt-ˈnə-k(ə-)lər

noun

plural white-knucklers

The 65-mile speedway connecting Vancouver and the mountain town of Whistler was a white-knuckler for decades. —

Christian DeBenedetti

Examples of white-knuckle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Djokovic, the second seed, defeated 22-year-old Italian Lorenzo Musetti, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, in the second semifinal and returns to Sunday’s final for a redo of last year’s championship match that Alcaraz won in five white-knuckle sets over nearly five hours. —

Ava Wallace, Washington Post, 12 July 2024 Patrick Brammall, co-creator and star of breakout Australian comedy Colin from Accounts, is swapping laughs for a white-knuckle thriller. —

Peter White, Deadline, 1 July 2024 Following a white-knuckle jailbreak, Cass made his way home to the planet Ferrix in time for his mother’s funeral, and managed to elude capture by the many factions hunting him. —

Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 25 June 2024 The presence of a Russian military flotilla passing by South Florida and conducting military exercises just miles from the coast is evoking for some the 13 days of white-knuckle tension in October 1962 when the Soviet Union placed nuclear weapons in Cuba, right at the doorstep of the United States. —

David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 12 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for white-knuckle

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'white-knuckle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.