Synonyms for nervous
adj anxious, fearful- afraid
- agitated
- annoyed
- apprehensive
- concerned
- edgy
- fussy
- hesitant
- hysterical
- irritable
- jittery
- jumpy
- shaky
- shy
- skittish
- spooked
- tense
- timid
- uneasy
- uptight
- volatile
- weak
- basket case
- bothered
- distressed
- disturbed
- excitable
- fidgety
- fitful
- flustered
- high-strung
- nervy
- neurotic
- on edge
- overwrought
- querulous
- restive
- ruffled
- sensitive
- shrinking
- snappish
- solicitous
- taut
- timorous
- troubled
- twitchy
- unrestful
- unstrung
- upset
- wired
- worried
Antonyms for nervous
- bold
- brave
- calm
- certain
- collected
- composed
- confident
- cool
- easy-going
- extroverted
- fearless
- firm
- happy
- laid-back
- sufficient
- sure
- unafraid
- uncaring
- unwavering
- unworried
- unnervous
anxious
- afraid
- aghast
- antsy
- apprehensive
- basket case
- bugged
- butterflies
- careful
- choked
- clutched
- concerned
- disquieted
- distressed
- disturbed
- dreading
- fearful
- fidgety
- fretful
- hacked
- hyper
- in a state
- in a tizzy
- in suspense
- jittery
- jumpy
- nervous
- nervy
- overwrought
- restless
- scared
- shaking
- shaky
- shivery
- shook up
- shot to pieces
- solicitous
- spooked
- strung out
- sweating bullets
- taut
- troubled
- uneasy
- unglued
- unquiet
- uptight
- watchful
- wired
- worried sick
- wreck
awesome
- alarming
- astonishing
- awe-inspiring
- awful
- beautiful
- breathtaking
- daunting
- dreadful
- exalted
- fearful
- fearsome
- formidable
- frantic
- frightening
- grand
- hairy
- horrible
- horrifying
- imposing
- impressive
- intimidating
- magnificent
- majestic
- mean
- mind-blowing
- moving
- nervous
- overwhelming
- real gone
- shocking
- something else
- striking
- stunning
- stupefying
- terrible
- terrifying
- wonderful
- wondrous
- zero cool
bashful
cowardly
- afraid
- anxious
- apprehensive
- backward
- base
- caitiff
- chicken-hearted
- cowering
- cowhearted
- craven
- dastardly
- diffident
- dismayed
- fainthearted
- frightened
- gutless
- having the willies
- jittery
- lacking courage
- lily-livered
- nervous
- no guts
- panicky
- paper tiger
- pigeonhearted
- pusillanimous
- recreant
- retiring
- running scared
- scared
- shrinking
- shy
- soft
- spineless
- timid
- timorous
- weak
- weak-kneed
- worthless
- yellow
- yellow-bellied
Word Origin & History
c.1400, "affecting the sinews," from Latin nervosus "sinewy, vigorous," from nervus "sinew, nerve" (see nerve). Meaning "of or belonging to the nerves" in the modern sense is from 1660s. Meaning "suffering disorder of the nervous system" is from 1734; illogical sense "restless, agitated, lacking nerve" is 1740. Widespread popular use as a euphemism for mental forced the medical community to coin neurological to replace it in the older sense. Nervous wreck first attested 1862. Related: Nervously; nervousness.
Example Sentences fornervous
Hipparete blushed, and with a quick and nervous motion touched her cithara.
Don't let them see you get nervous when they turn out of the coaches.
It made her interlace her fingers with nervous anxiety, but it set a fire in her eyes.
And the sight of his white face and his nervous right hand was too much for them.
The girl's answer was uttered with nervous eagerness which revealed her own stress of fear.
She looked at him with a nervous repugnance to his appearance, which she tried to subdue.
He rattled the snaffle in his mouth with nervous indecision—he had a notion to try it.
To be possessed of calm where all was nervous strain was something.
Chip's nervous system did not demand the relief of cachinnation.
Her eyes were hateful and her hands were nervous as she reviewed the past week.