nervous Definition

nervous
adj

1. Timid; easily agitated.

Thesaurus: timid, apprehensive, afraid, shy, shrinking, fearful, hesitant, shaky, timorous, weak, excitable, sensitive, neurotic, high-strung, agitated, edgy, flustered, hysterical, jittery, jumpy, uptight (slang), fidgety; Antonym: bold, confident, calm, cool, relaxed.
2. Apprehensive; uneasy.
3. Relating to the nerves.

Example: nervous illnesses
4. Consisting of nerves.

Derivative: nervously
adverb

Derivative: nervousness
noun

The quality or state of being nervous
Thesaurus: agitation, anxiety, perturbation, disquietude, tension, discomfiture, tremulousness, turbulence, excitability, irascibility, moodiness, hypersensitivity, neuroticism; Antonym: calmness, coolness.

Etymology: 17c; 15c, meaning ‘muscular' or ‘vigorous': from Latin nervosus sinewy.