Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Arrogantly impudent; brazen.
- adjective Showing or requiring courage and fortitude; bold.
- adjective Chiefly British Jumpy; nervous.
- adjective Archaic Full of muscular force; sinewy.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Vigorous; sinewy; strong, as if well-nerved or full of nervous force.
- Courageous; having or exhibiting fortitude or nerve.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Strong; sinewy.
- adjective Offensively bold or presumptuous; insolent; cheeky; pushy.
- adjective Exhibiting courage or daring; bold; plucky.
- adjective Nervous{6}; apprehensive; edgy{1}.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective US Having
nerve ;bold ;brazen . - adjective UK Feeling
nervous ,anxious oragitated . - adjective archaic Strong; sinewy.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective being in a tense state
- adjective showing or requiring courage and contempt of danger
- adjective offensively bold
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word nervy.
Examples
-
Say, boss, "-- and Sundown leaned toward Corliss confidentially and lowered his voice, --" I ain't what you'd call a nervy man, but say, I got somethin 'jest as good.
Sundown Slim Henry Herbert Knibbs 1909
-
With some legitimacy you could call the nervy Texans in ...
-
With some legitimacy you could call the nervy Texans in ...
-
What Ronnie is sure about is that he's not going to spend this glorious September Saturday afternoon on a trip to "nervy" Aunt Edna's house.
-
Well I guess you're glad we "nervy" Clinton supporters are finally backing down.
-
Well I guess you're glad we "nervy" Clinton supporters are finally backing down.
-
If you don't know about Alsatian wines, I can assure you that they are perfect spring-into-summer picks with vibrant acidity and a kind of nervy, racy quality that keeps the wine lively and bright down to the last drop.
Archive 2009-04-01 2009
-
If you don't know about Alsatian wines, I can assure you that they are perfect spring-into-summer picks with vibrant acidity and a kind of nervy, racy quality that keeps the wine lively and bright down to the last drop.
-
It takes a certain kind of nervy woman to pull that look off, however.
-
It takes a certain kind of nervy woman to pull that look off, however.
oroboros commented on the word nervy
Nervous v. brave, daring.
May 24, 2008