Word family noun nerve nerves nervousness adjective nervous nerveless nerve-racking nervy unnerving verb nerve unnerve adverb nervously
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishnerve-rackingˈnerve-ˌracking, nerve-wracking adjective NERVOUSa nerve-racking situation makes you feel very nervous or worried Speaking in public can be a nerve-wracking experience. Fran faced a nerve-racking wait for her test results.Examples from the Corpus
nerve-racking• It is never too early to score, but Sunderland faced a nerve-racking 55 minutes after that breakthrough.• Although most people were relieved that the waiting game was over, the first days and nights were nerve-racking.• I also discovered that being a guest on a talk show is pretty nerve-racking.• The unveiling was happy but nerve-racking.• Once I had a rather nerve-racking experience with him when I was working the horse rake in the lower field.• It was nerve-racking, having him watch her as she slid her feet out of bed, and pushed them into soft mules.• It was rather nerve-racking, sitting there all on his own.• Soderberg had a nerve-racking time, which seemed to be over by late 1987.• Fran faced a nerve-racking wait for her medical test results. 