Meanings
- simileExtremely nervous.
Foreign governments are also waiting to see what will happen in Cairo. NBC’s Brian Williams said Israelis are “as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.”
2011 February 10, Nitasha Tiku, “Hosni Mubarak May Be Stepping Down [Updated]”, in Intelligencer, New York, N.Y.: New York Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 Nov 20183 more examples
And to top things off, Osama bin Laden has released another audiotape threatening more attacks in the west, which conjures up unpleasant visions of even greater unrest. It all makes oil traders feel as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
2006 January 20, “Oil on the up, again”, in The Economist, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 Jul 2020The excitement is in the air here in DC, where rumor has it that the Supreme Court is about to hand down a decision on Heller. Finally, hopefully, we'll have an answer: does the Second Amendment protect an individual right, or not? If so, we can then get down to wrangling about whether that right is incorporated against the states. I confess, I'm as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. I have no particular desperate longing to own a gun, but I have a big jones for more personal liberty.
2008 June 25, Megan McArdle, “To [District of Columbia v.] Heller and Back”, in James Bennet, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 22 Jul 2019And when the denouement came, a surprise encounter with the Russian gangster who killed his [Alex Godman’s] uncle, it was a wild-eyed affair, played brilliantly by [James] Norton, who looked as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
2018 January 21, Rachel Ward, “McMafia, episode five review: this is like Kiefer Sutherland’s 24 with organised crime and bank transfers”, in Chris Evans, editor, The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 Jan 2018Synonyms: angstful, apprehensive, anxious, careful, concerned, distraught, disturbed, edgy
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
A more elaborate form of nervous as a cat. The implication is that the cat is afraid of its long tail being caught underneath a rocking chair.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nervous%20as%20a%20long-tailed%20cat%20in%20a%20room%20full%20of%20rocking%20chairs
“nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nervous%20as%20a%20long-tailed%20cat%20in%20a%20room%20full%20of%20rocking%20chairs. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nervous%20as%20a%20long-tailed%20cat%20in%20a%20room%20full%20of%20rocking%20chairs.
Source: nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.