NAIL-BITING Synonyms: 38 Similar and Opposite Words

nail-biting

adjective

as in tense

marked by or causing agitation or uncomfortable feelings for a couple of nail-biting moments we thought that we had actually won the mega lottery

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of nail-biting But the wins have, largely, been grinding contests reliant on perfect pitching and nail-biting relief. — Mitch Bannon, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026 Once the final paddle was raised, the crowd strolled over to the President’s Suite in Arthur Ashe Stadium for dessert, Honey Deuces, and a front row seat to the nail-biting Djokovic-Navone match. — Paul Chi, Vogue, 31 Aug. 2026 The movie’s nail-biting centerpiece is filmed partly with night-vision lenses, as Bangley cuts down dozens of attackers. — Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026 Like Rear Window, Wait Until Dark provides nail-biting tension without leaving the comfort of the protagonist’s on-screen home. — Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Aug. 2026 Koontz, who is famously devoted to his dogs, delivers a book of nail-biting suspense that’s packed with emotion, illustrating how an expert blends genres. — The Week Us, TheWeek, 20 Aug. 2026 Monday’s audience was a daytime homecoming, with the natural espadrille wedges supplying a more casual finish following a nail-biting World Cup victory for Spain. — Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 21 July 2026 The nail-biting finish when Egypt almost knocked out Argentina? — Kendra Nordin Beato, Christian Science Monitor, 20 July 2026 Spain defeated Lionel Messi’s Argentina in a nail-biting World Cup final at MetLife Stadium Sunday. — Juan Claudio Matossian, Vanity Fair, 19 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for nail-biting

Adjective

Ties between Kosovo and Serbia remain tense, despite years of negotiations mediated by the European Union and supported by the United States.

— CNN Money, CNN Money, 16 Sep. 2026
This also enabled Laporta to improve his previously tense relationship with UEFA and its president, Aleksander Ceferin.

— Pol Ballús, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of tense

Adjective

Sam Altman is leading OpenAI through perhaps the most consequential—and uneasy—moment in artificial intelligence yet.

— Fortune Editors, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2026
In a desperate race against time, Rosalind and Sean are forced into an uneasy alliance, fighting to save her husband and expose a global trafficking empire that eliminates anyone who tries to stop it.

— Alex Ritman, Variety, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of uneasy

Adjective

More than a month after Perez Hilton appeared in a disturbing livestream appearing to engage in acts of self-harm at this Miami-area home, his family is addressing the rumor mill.

— Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 16 Sep. 2026
As tensions rise and boundaries begin to blur, their grandmother’s frail presence takes on an increasingly disturbing quality, turning a once-idyllic summer into a haunting passage into adulthood.

— Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of disturbing

Adjective

The tiny farming settlement of Poilley, in Brittany, would become her home for the next eight years, and the subject of more than 50,000 intimate, often unsettling photographs.

— Felix Bazalgette, The New York Review of Books, 5 Sep. 2026
And an overture from an ABC exec (Jessica Hecht) to Andie to jump ship represents another kind of unsettling grooming.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of unsettling

Adjective

That feels very much in tune with the anxious characters Eisenberg has played over the course of his acting career, but this whole directing thing is working out nicely for him, too.

— Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 6 Sep. 2026
Nelson remembers hushing her foster children back to sleep that night and calling 911, anxious for an end to those sleepless nights.

— Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of anxious

Adjective

One grandmother initially didn’t understand what the couple was asking, while two were a little nervous about taking on a role traditionally given to children.

— Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2026
But one area that has Chiefs fans a little nervous is the offensive line that will be tasked with keeping Mahomes upright.

— Scott Chasen, Kansas City Star, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of nervous

Adjective

For a restless brain, the quiet room doesn’t feel like leadership so much as isolation, so people slide back into admin work without really deciding to.

— Chris Kille, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2026
Two males and one female, the cubs were restless during Tuesday’s vaccination.

— ABC News, ABC News, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of restless

Adjective

The combination of text and image recurs throughout Lynch’s paintings as well, where captions often make distressing narratives explicit.

— Tara Anne Dalbow, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026
In response to our distressing new reality, DuVernay has created a thrillingly expansive sequel of sorts, which passionately and persuasively details how the tenets of the 14th Amendment, ratified post–Civil War, are now under systematic attack.

— Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of distressing

Browse Nearby Words

nail-biters

nail-biting

nail (down)

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“Nail-biting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nail-biting. Accessed 18 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of nail-biting

adjective

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