Meaning of nervous in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Classifying Adjective
    1. Definitions
  3. Qualitative Adjective
    1. Etymology
    2. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    /ˈnərvəs/

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  1. Classifying Adjective

    nervous

    Definitions

    1. easily agitated

    Examples

    • « quick nervous movements »

    Synonyms

  2. 2. causing or fraught with or showing anxiety

    Examples

    • « spent an anxious night waiting for the test results »
    • « cast anxious glances behind her »
    • « those nervous moments before takeoff »
    • « an unquiet mind »

    Synonyms

  3. 3. excited in anticipation

    Synonyms

  4. 4. unpredictably excitable (especially of horses)

    Synonyms

  5. Qualitative Adjective

    nervous

    Etymology

    late Middle English (in the senses ‘containing nerves’ and ‘relating to the nerves’): from Latin nervosus‘sinewy, vigorous’, from nervus‘sinew’ (see nerve). nervous (sense 1) dates from the mid 18th century

    Definitions

    1. of or relating to the nervous system

    Examples

    • « nervous disease »
    • « neural disorder »

Famous quotes

  • « It's funny, though, because when I first started going to races after we met, I was extremely nervous. It's like being backstage and hoping you don't trip over something or break an amp or accidentally speak into a live microphone, so I was really hesitant. »
    Ashley Judd
  • « I think it makes people in the Pentagon kind of nervous to know that chemical agents and environmental factors could cause so much damage in terms of what may happen in the future. »
    Bernard Sanders
  • « A lot of times I would go into a room and audition for whatever sitcom it was and they would expect me to do sort of what my dad was doing and I am not him so they would be disappointed and I would feel nervous and not know exactly how to do it. »
    Jason Ritter
  • « I'd try to channel my nervous energy in a positive way into strength and endurance. It didn't always work. »
    Kristi Yamaguchi
  • « Just me onstage with a mike having an intimate relationship with the audience. I don't get nervous for that. I just get excited. »
    Kevin James

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