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Added 9 October 2026

nervous

/ˈnɜːvəs/ adjective

In Latin: trepidus Wiktionary

adjective Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about nervous at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Easily agitated.
a nervous addict
Causing or fraught with or showing anxiety.
spent an anxious night waiting for the test results
Of or relating to the nervous system.
nervous disease

Origin

From Middle English nervous (“composed of or incorporating nerves”), from Latin nervōsus (“nervous; sinewy; energetic, vigorous”), from nervus (“nerve; muscle; sinew, tendon; (figuratively) energy, power; nerve; force, strength, vigour”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *snéh₁wr̥ (“sinew, tendon”)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of, prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns). The English word is analysable as nerve + -ous.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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