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nerve-racking

adjective

ˈnərv-ˌra-kiŋ How to pronounce nerve-racking (audio)
variants or nerve-wracking
Definition of nerve-rackingnext
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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 nerve-racking Making your Major League debut is nerve-racking enough, but doing so while trying to preserve a no-hitter is a different kind of pressure. — Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 26 May 2026 Feeling the weight of an entire country seems like a nerve-racking prospect, but the women of BINI take it in stride. — Nicole Fell, HollywoodReporter, 17 Apr. 2026 One of the most dangerous and nerve-racking parts of the Artemis II mission is still ahead. — Tom Costello, NBC news, 10 Apr. 2026 Whitaker is just starting his first year, but is that nerve-racking to know as an actor? — Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, 10 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for nerve-racking
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nerve-racking
  1. uneasy
  2. disturbing
  3. tense
  4. nervous
  5. anxious
  6. unsettling
  7. distressful
  8. unnerving
Adjective
  • Upheavals so profound are not accomplished without loosing uneasy spirits that will haunt us for many days.
    — J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Silicon sampling troubles some polling traditionalists who are uneasy about ethical and other implications of simulating human responses.
    — W. Joseph Campbell, The Conversation, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of uneasy
Adjective
  • French President Emanuel Macron delivered a briefing to the candidates running to succeed him so disturbing that even the far-right National Rally’s leaders emerged denouncing Russian hybrid attacks.
    — Ben Smith, semafor.com, 21 Sep. 2026
  • The 72-year-old Cuban widow filed for temporary custody shortly after the disturbing incident.
    — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of disturbing
Adjective
  • The prompt makes the room tense, eager, mutually supportive and quietly competitive.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Up to 2,000 jobs are at risk under the savings strategy, while the BBC is also involved in tense negotiations with unions over employee pay rises.
    — Jake Kanter, Deadline, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of tense
Adjective
  • Gael is herself a little nervous, not only about the tension but about leaving Kayden.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Just after the sun melted into the sea a deer trotted by, followed by its more nervous baby.
    — David G. Allan, CNN Money, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of nervous
Adjective
  • Many of Martin’s clients come in feeling anxious about making the leap, unsure whether the look will suit them.
    — Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Forrest says he was pushed into thinking about climate change in the 2010s by his daughter Sophia, who was anxious about the planet’s future.
    — Vivienne Walt, Fortune, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of anxious
Adjective
  • Up close, its elongated head, skeletal body and glistening double set of jaws reveal just how much unsettling detail goes into a creature often glimpsed onscreen in darkness.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Adrià describes a world filtered through adolescence, where people, places and situations can appear idealized, magical or unsettling.
    — Callum McLennan, Variety, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of unsettling
Adjective
  • Carrying debt can be incredibly distressful, especially with sky-high prices for food, gas and housing.
    — Mallika Mitra, Sacbee.com, 24 Aug. 2026
  • And yet behind the distressful scene, a young man continues to butcher an animal.
    — Kaely Monahan, The Arizona Republic, 27 Mar. 2024
Definition of distressful
Adjective
  • For other families quietly and often despairingly living with similar problems of addiction and mental illness involving their children, the tragedy is an unnerving, looming specter — a worst-case scenario made real.
    — Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Yet ballrooms dipped in gold are still not as unnerving as the fact that America’s $40 trillion federal debt is now bigger than the entire annual economic output of almost every single nation on Earth.
    — Pat Beall, Sun Sentinel, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of unnerving

Browse Nearby Words

nervelessly
nerve-racking
nerves
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Cite this Entry

“Nerve-racking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nerve-racking. Accessed 29 Sep. 2026.

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