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
-
Arab leaders have sought to calm nationals and expatriate residents who chose to move to the Persian Gulf region for stability, safety and the promise of prosperity, but who are increasingly growing uneasy as the conflict becomes more chaotic.—
Mostafa Salem,
CNN Money,
2 Mar. 2026
-
In Canada, as elsewhere, the climate movement, after years of raucous visibility, has largely fallen into a state of uneasy quietude.—
Robert Moor,
New Yorker,
2 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The stumblebum energy disarms us, which makes the gruesome cruelty of the kills that much more disturbing.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
27 Feb. 2026
-
On Wednesday, Givens described the allegations accusing her of allowing a staff member to impersonate her during a court hearing as disturbing.—
Jane Harper,
Dallas Morning News,
26 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Support from Chiron in your partner zone means people important to you can meet you in the middle, even if past missteps made things tense.—
Tarot.com,
Baltimore Sun,
1 Mar. 2026
-
The decision follows a tense standoff over the military’s use of artificial intelligence tools.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
28 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
What’s the pitch to talent, and how many are genuinely nervous about getting stuff wrong?—
Lacey Rose,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Mar. 2026
-
This has been an area of strength recently, but these stocks will definitely pull back if the market gets nervous about whatever’s about to happen in Iran.—
Josh Brown,Sean Russo,
CNBC,
2 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Don’t be too anxious for April and May, hoping for the perfect weather, the perfect bloom or the perfect Baltimore oriole to flash its black and orange colors.—
Sheryl De Vore,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Mar. 2026
-
Women who are anxious, overwhelmed, or emotionally reactive get labeled as depressed or hormonal.—
Sarah Oreck,
SELF,
2 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The series centers on a couple whose lives are upended after welcoming a seemingly ideal caregiver into their home, only to find boundaries blurred and control slipping as the arrangement spirals into a tense, unsettling power struggle.—
Peter White,
Deadline,
26 Feb. 2026
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Eighty or more minutes later at the end of the Agnus Dei, when the great plea for peace reaches its ultimate transcendence, up becomes, in one of the most profoundly unsettling moments in all music, down again.—
Classical Music Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
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
-
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
-
Imbued with dread, Longlegs will get under your skin, as will the image of Nicolas Cage as the unnerving titular villain.—
Kevin Jacobsen,
Entertainment Weekly,
21 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Nerve-racking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nerve-racking. Accessed 4 Mar. 2026.
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