Adjacent Words

Nervous definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

NERVOUS, a.
1. Strong; vigorous; as a nervous arm.
2. Pertaining to the nerves; seated in or affecting the nerves; as a nervous disease or fever.
3. Having the nerves affected; hypochondriac; a colloquial use of the word.
4. Possessing or manifesting vigor of mind; characterized by strength in sentiment or style; as a nervous historian.
NERVOUS, a. In botany [See Nerved, No.2]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: easily agitated; "a nervous addict"; "a nervous thoroughbred"
2: causing or fraught with or showing anxiety; "spent an anxious night waiting for the test results"; "cast anxious glances behind her"; "those nervous moments before takeoff"; "an unquiet mind" [syn: anxious, nervous, queasy, uneasy, unquiet]
3: of or relating to the nervous system; "nervous disease"; "neural disorder" [syn: nervous, neural]
4: excited in anticipation [syn: aflutter, nervous]
5: unpredictably excitable (especially of horses) [syn: skittish, flighty, spooky, nervous]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 14th century 1. archaic sinewy, strong 2. marked by strength of thought, feeling, or style ; spirited <a vibrant tight-packed nervous style of writing> 3. of, relating to, or composed of neurons 4. a. of or relating to the nerves; also originating in or affected by the nerves <nervous energy> b. easily excited or irritated ; jumpy c. timid, apprehensive <a nervous smile> <nervous of strangers> 5. a. tending to produce nervousness or agitation ; uneasy <a nervous situation> b. appearing or acting unsteady, erratic, or irregular — used of inanimate things Synonyms: see vigorous • nervously adverb • nervousness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 having delicate or disordered nerves. 2 timid or anxious. 3 a excitable; highly strung; easily agitated. b resulting from this temperament (nervous tension; a nervous headache). 4 affecting or acting on the nerves. 5 (foll. by of + verbal noun) reluctant, afraid (am nervous of meeting them). Phrases and idioms: nervous breakdown a period of mental illness, usu. resulting from severe depression or anxiety. nervous system the body's network of specialized cells which transmit nerve impulses between parts of the body (cf. central nervous system, peripheral nervous system). nervous wreck colloq. a person suffering from mental stress, exhaustion, etc. Derivatives: nervously adv. nervousness n. Etymology: ME f. L nervosus (as NERVE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Nervous Nerv"ous, a. [L. nervosus sinewy, vigorous: cf. F. nerveux. See Nerve.] 1. possessing nerve; sinewy; strong; vigorous. ``Nervous arms.'' --Pope. 2. Possessing or manifesting vigor of mind; characterized by strength in sentiment or style; forcible; spirited; as, a nervous writer. 3. Of or pertaining to the nerves; seated in the nerves; as, nervous excitement; a nervous fever. 4. Having the nerves weak, diseased, or easily excited; subject to, or suffering from, undue excitement of the nerves; easily agitated or annoyed. Poor, weak, nervous creatures. --Cheyne. 5. Sensitive; excitable; timid.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If someone is nervous, they are frightened or worried about something that is happening or might happen, and show this in their behaviour. The party has become deeply nervous about its prospects of winning the next election... She described Mr Hutchinson as nervous and jumpy after his wife's disappearance. = anxious ADJ: usu v-link ADJ, oft ADJ about/of n • nervously Brunhilde stood up nervously as the men came into the room... ADV: ADV with v • nervousness I smiled warmly so he wouldn't see my nervousness. N-UNCOUNT 2. A nervous person is very tense and easily upset. She was apparently a very nervous woman, and that affected her career. ADJ: usu ADJ n 3. A nervous illness or condition is one that affects your emotions and your mental state. The number of nervous disorders was rising in the region... He developed nervous problems after people began repeatedly correcting him. ADJ: ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Full of nerves. 2. Of the nerves. 3. Sinewy, strong, vigorous, robust, forcible, powerful, wellstrung, nervy. 4. Timid, timorous, easily agitated, weak, weakly, irritable, fearful. 5. Vigorous, forcible, powerful, forceful, strong, spirited.

Moby Thesaurus

acid, agitable, agitated, all nerves, all-overish, allergic, anaphylactic, anxious, anxioused up, apprehensive, bashful, biting, bothered, concerned, corrosive, cowardly, critical, cutting, delicate, difficult, diffident, discomposed, disquieted, distressed, disturbed, driving, edgy, effective, emotional, emotionally unstable, empathetic, empathic, eruptive, excitable, excited, explosive, fearful, fearing, fearsome, feverish, fidgety, flurried, flustered, forceful, forcible, foreboding, fretful, frightened, goosey, goosy, gutsy, high-mettled, high-spirited, high-strung, highly emotional, hyperesthetic, hyperpathic, hypersensitive, imperative, impressive, in a dither, in a pucker, in a stew, in a sweat, in a tizzy, in fear, incisive, inflammable, irascible, irritable, itchy, jittery, jumpy, mettlesome, misgiving, mordant, mousy, nerval, nerves on edge, nervy, neural, neurological, on edge, on tenterhooks, overanxious, overapprehensive, overrefined, oversensible, oversensitive, overstrung, overtender, panicky, passible, penetrating, perturbable, perturbed, piercing, poignant, powerful, prickly, punchy, querulous, rabbity, refined, responsive, restless, ruffled, scared, scary, sensational, sensitive, shaken, shaken up, shaky, shivery, shrinking, shy, sinewed, sinewy, skittery, skittish, slashing, snappish, solicitous, spooky, startlish, stirred up, strained, striking, strong, strung out, supersensitive, suspenseful, sympathetic, tactful, telling, tender, tense, tetchy, thin-skinned, ticklish, timid, timorous, touchy, trembling, tremulous, trenchant, trepidant, trigger-happy, troubled, troublous, turbulent, twittery, uneasy, unpeaceful, unquiet, unrestful, upset, uptight, vigorous, vital, volatile, volcanic, waspish, worked up, worried, wrought up, zealous