variants
or nerve-wracking
as in uneasy
marked by or causing agitation or uncomfortable feelings
the nerve-racking wait to learn the identities of the passengers who were killed in the plane crash
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of nerve-racking
In Parker's nerve-racking scene, her character gives gifts to each member of the Stone clan in an effort to mend fences with them, and Keaton's signature wit is on full display.
—
Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Dec. 2025
Serious belly laughs and nerve-racking moments arrive in equal measure; tonally, there’s nothing quite like it.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 9 Dec. 2025
Meanwhile, Greengrass heaps calamity upon calamity, mounting the fire with nerve-racking expertise.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025
Robinson and Kanin actually have come up with an extremely quirky, often nerve-racking and occasionally gross depiction of 2025 as a time when clear communication is being replaced by misdirection, misinterpretation, AI customer service chats and a pervasive sense of loneliness.
—Julie Hinds, Freep.com, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nerve-racking
Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Dec. 2025
Serious belly laughs and nerve-racking moments arrive in equal measure; tonally, there’s nothing quite like it.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 9 Dec. 2025
Meanwhile, Greengrass heaps calamity upon calamity, mounting the fire with nerve-racking expertise.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025
Robinson and Kanin actually have come up with an extremely quirky, often nerve-racking and occasionally gross depiction of 2025 as a time when clear communication is being replaced by misdirection, misinterpretation, AI customer service chats and a pervasive sense of loneliness.
—Julie Hinds, Freep.com, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nerve-racking
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nerve-racking
Adjective
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Many travelers feel 'uneasy' about going abroad.—
Kathleen Wong,
USA Today,
9 Mar. 2026
-
The United States and Israel’s widening war with Iran has stricken an already uneasy global economy with a new bout of uncertainty.—
Mirtha Donastorg,
AJC.com,
4 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
What followed was even more disturbing.—
Rocco Parascandola,
New York Daily News,
8 Mar. 2026
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That would be a particularly disturbing piece of real hate mail Kubrin received late last year after she was quoted in a news story about immigration and crime.—
Andre Mouchard,
Oc Register,
8 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Video circulating on social media shows tense moments inside the cabin as passengers were instructed to put their heads down and raise their hands while armed officers entered the plane.—
Milena Malaver,
Miami Herald,
7 Mar. 2026
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The district is facing several major challenges in the months ahead, including looming budget cuts, tense contract negotiations with unions and ongoing concerns among families about immigration enforcement in some communities.—
Teresa Liu,
Daily News,
7 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The across-the-board beat may help settle a nervous investor base, at least for the time being, as Oracle’s results and backlog point to a continuing surge in demand for AI infrastructure.—
Jordan Novet,
CNBC,
10 Mar. 2026
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Projections by Paramount’s management team that at least $6 billion in cost savings will result from the merger have made all of Hollywood nervous, but especially the workforce at WBD.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The film is at its best building tension and showing us just how anxious life is under dictatorial rule.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Mar. 2026
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The anxious impatience of being en route has permeated cootie catcher’s music since their earliest releases in 2021.—
Jude Noel,
Pitchfork,
9 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The Baltimore City Office of the Inspector General released an unsettling report about spending from the mayor’s office over a three-and-a-half-year period (July 2022 through November 2025).—
Torrey Snow,
Baltimore Sun,
4 Mar. 2026
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Key themes in her work include environmental catastrophe, belief, and the strange and unsettling aspects of human life.—
Joy Williams,
The Dial,
3 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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And yet behind the distressful scene, a young man continues to butcher an animal.—
Kaely Monahan,
The Arizona Republic,
27 Mar. 2024
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Despite the distressful news of Houston’s death that day, the event went forward to create a space for guests to mourn.—
Elizabeth Wagmeister,
CNN,
2 Feb. 2024
Adjective
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The most unnerving possibility is that Operation Epic Fury is not the culmination of his shift toward a war presidency, but rather the beginning of a new chapter.—
Eric Cortellessa,
Time,
5 Mar. 2026
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Seeing the migration run in the other direction—Vegas to the world—feels almost off-kilter, a little unnerving, though not uncompelling.—
Helen Rosner,
New Yorker,
1 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Nerve-racking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nerve-racking. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
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