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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of nerve-racking
For Riverside residents living in the surrounding area, the incident is nerve-racking and a little too close to home.
—
Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 13 Jan. 2026
Meeting the rapper, 44, in person proved to be a nerve-racking experience.
—Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 6 Jan. 2026
Caregiving like no other One reason that mental health caregivers particularly need support is that caring for someone with a serious mental illness can be nerve-racking, simply because of the nature of these disorders and diseases.
—Kat McGowan, NPR, 31 Dec. 2025
That was honestly the most nerve-racking thing.
—Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 25 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nerve-racking
Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 13 Jan. 2026
Meeting the rapper, 44, in person proved to be a nerve-racking experience.
—Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 6 Jan. 2026
Caregiving like no other One reason that mental health caregivers particularly need support is that caring for someone with a serious mental illness can be nerve-racking, simply because of the nature of these disorders and diseases.
—Kat McGowan, NPR, 31 Dec. 2025
That was honestly the most nerve-racking thing.
—Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 25 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nerve-racking
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nerve-racking
Adjective
-
These memories of his brief, sad human life are uneasy dreams that Lestat wakes from on his tour bus as the sun sets over the road to Toledo.—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
15 June 2026
-
On top of the tense, uneasy dynamic created by the duo’s pairing, the series is wrapped in a twisty web of peripheral problems.—
Matt Cabral,
Entertainment Weekly,
15 June 2026
Adjective
-
The decision reignites one of the most disturbing trials in recent years – a tale full of drug abuse, domestic violence, false testimony and a missing 5-year-old girl.—
Eric Levenson,
CNN Money,
11 June 2026
-
Some clips, showing officers performing rapid and intense chest compressions on Lucy, were so disturbing that members of her family left the courtroom in tears.—
David Goodhue,
Miami Herald,
10 June 2026
Adjective
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All this, Snyder said, led to the predictably tense 2025 charter negotiations, which were done to set NASCAR’s financial fate for the next handful of years.—
Alex Zietlow,
Charlotte Observer,
9 Dec. 2025
-
This tense alignment pushes us toward growth by shedding light on what is no longer sustainable.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
8 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Fantasy managers were nervous about investing in Brown due to possible rotation but one per cent of them were rewarded with a goal, an assist and the scouting bonus.—
Holly Shand,
New York Times,
17 June 2026
-
Hundreds of thousands of fans, sitting in bars throughout the city, watched televisions in nervous silence.—
Jenna Thompson
June 16,
Kansas City Star,
16 June 2026
Adjective
-
Nayyar played the socially anxious Raj Koothrappali, particle astrophysicist and BFF to Leonard.—
Grace Gavilanes,
PEOPLE,
15 June 2026
-
By our nature, we journalists are anxious to report fresh news, including the outcomes of elections.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
15 June 2026
Adjective
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Upending the character’s world is the arrival of a mysterious new student, Robert Mallory, whose unsettling presence coincides with the activities of a serial killer known as The Trawler.—
Denise Petski,
Deadline,
10 June 2026
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Her stance on gay and trans rights has evolved in especially unsettling ways.—
Moira Donegan,
New Yorker,
9 June 2026
Adjective
-
But Hawthorne conjures another unnerving transformation.—
John Swansburg,
The Atlantic,
15 June 2026
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The footage is chaotic, dreamlike, and profoundly unnerving as the young caregiver grows increasingly intimate with her elusive charge.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
11 June 2026
Adjective
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James Boyard, a Haitian police officer and security expert, was abducted Thursday morning in Raimbol in the Bourdon neighborhood as the family traveled through the capital to see a doctor after a restless night caring for their sick daughter.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
14 June 2026
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From Prince Harry and Princess Diana’s matching moments in the late ’80s to Prince Louis’s famously restless balcony appearances, each ceremony has delivered its share of lighthearted highlights.—
Staff Author,
InStyle,
13 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Nerve-racking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nerve-racking. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.
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