Word family noun nerve nerves nervousness adjective nervous nerveless nerve-racking nervy unnerving verb nerve unnerve adverb nervously
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishunnerveun‧nerve /ʌnˈnɜːv $ -ɜːrv/ verb [transitive] NERVOUSto upset or frighten someone so that they lose their confidence or their ability to think clearly He was unnerved by the way Sylvia kept staring at him. —unnerving adjective an unnerving experience→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
unnerve• The interviewer was unnerved and changed the subject quickly.• Anna was unnerved by the attention that came her way after the Union-Tribune told her story four years ago.• Moore had been extremely unnerved by the FBI's visit.• He was both eager to adopt the right stance and unnerved by the strangeness of it.• If your organization is slap-happy it will unnerve candidates and may make them think twice before accepting a job with you.• Peggy's strange smile unnerved me slightly.• The daily news stories of the worsening economy unnerved the nation.• They were designed to unnerve you, to make you start jabbering indiscreetly.unnerving experience• Even with a few days' rehearsal it was an unnerving experience.• We've all had the unnerving experience of something going wrong when thirty people are sitting waiting for us to start. 