nervously

N1E1R1V4O1U1S1L1Y4

adverb

In a nervous manner; feeling or displaying nervousness.

“He paced nervously as he waited for the important phone call.”

Less commonScrabble 15

Meanings

adverbnervously (comparative more nervously, superlative most nervously)

comparative more nervously · superlative most nervously

  1. In a nervous manner; feeling or displaying nervousness.

    He paced nervously as he waited for the important phone call.

    2 more examples

    Then he could see the modest bookseller, somewhat clammy in his extremities and lost within his academic robe and hood, nervously fidgeting his mortar-board, haled forward by ushers, and tottering rubescent before the chancellor, provost, president (or whoever it might be) who hands out the diploma.

    1919, Christopher Morley, “Again the Narrative is Retarded”, in The Haunted Bookshop, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, page 171

    She nervously undressed in the dancing beams of the Fidra lighthouse, giving it all away before it's too late

    1987, Derek Dick, “Warm Wet Circles”, in Clutching at Straws, performed by Marillion

Origin

Translations

Catalan nerviosament
  • nerviosamentin a nervous manner
Danish nervøst
  • nervøstin a nervous manner
Esperanto nervoze
  • nervozein a nervous manner
Finnish hermostuneesti
  • hermostuneestiin a nervous manner
French nerveusement
  • nerveusementin a nervous manner
German nervös, erregbar
  • nervösin a nervous manner
  • erregbarin a nervous manner
  • gereiztin a nervous manner
  • hektischin a nervous manner
  • unruhigin a nervous manner
Italian nervosamente
  • nervosamentein a nervous manner
Polish nerwowo
  • nerwowoin a nervous manner
Portuguese nervosamente
  • nervosamentein a nervous manner
Russian не́рвно
  • не́рвно (nérvno)in a nervous manner
Slovak nervózne
  • nervóznein a nervous manner
Spanish nerviosamente
  • nerviosamentein a nervous manner
Cite this entry
APA

nervously. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nervously

MLA

“nervously.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nervously. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nervously,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nervously.

Source: nervously on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.