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Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective nervous contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of nervous are energetic, lusty, strenuous, and vigorous. While all these words mean "having or showing great vitality and force," nervous suggests especially the forcibleness and sustained effectiveness resulting from mental vigor.

full of nervous energy

When is energetic a more appropriate choice than nervous?

Although the words energetic and nervous have much in common, energetic suggests a capacity for intense activity.

an energetic campaigner

When might lusty be a better fit than nervous?

While in some cases nearly identical to nervous, lusty implies exuberant energy and capacity for enjoyment.

a lusty appetite for life

When is it sensible to use strenuous instead of nervous?

While the synonyms strenuous and nervous are close in meaning, strenuous suggests a preference for coping with the arduous or the challenging.

the strenuous life on an oil rig

When can vigorous be used instead of nervous?

The meanings of vigorous and nervous largely overlap; however, vigorous further implies showing no signs of depletion or diminishing of freshness or robustness.

as vigorous as a youth half his age

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of nervous And then Nancy arrived, which made Leslie nervous because Gary seemed interested in her. EW.com, 22 July 2025 Rocky was reportedly nervous entering the new environment after having lived with his family for the past seven years. Nicholas Williams, New York Daily News, 19 July 2025 As a disabled person moving through the park with a service animal, Hurtado was nervous for their day at Disneyland. Colson Thayer, People.com, 17 July 2025 This new reality has made the American public, both Democrats and Republicans, justifiably nervous, and our polling captures this widespread trepidation. Adam Eichen, The Conversation, 17 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for nervous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nervous
Adjective
  • Many tourism leaders in gateway towns near them are worried tourists will start going elsewhere if the park experience or its environment gets eroded.
    Kirk Siegler, NPR, 24 July 2025
  • Among the key findings: Fifty-six percent of consumers are worried about affording their school supplies due to price hikes from tariffs.
    David Moin, Footwear News, 23 July 2025
Adjective
  • Pico’s other headsets are not sold in North America and ByteDance and the Trump administration have an uneasy relationship at best.
    Chris Morris, Fortune, 15 July 2025
  • The carpenters’ stance has created a split in the labor movement that makes lawmakers uneasy and sometimes spills into public view.
    CalMatters, Mercury News, 13 July 2025
Adjective
  • Second, from a real-world perspective, if a dog is highly excitable or reactive, certain programming might overstimulate or stress them.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 17 July 2025
  • Choreographer Byron Easley is completely in synch with Goldstein’s excitable approach to this material.
    Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 14 July 2025
Adjective
  • With Iran and its proxies diminished and Gulf states anxious to diversify their economies, any prospect for broader peace and normalization runs through Riyadh.
    Edward Felsenthal, Time, 23 July 2025
  • This is their first major sit-down interview together, and both are a bit anxious.
    James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 23 July 2025
Adjective
  • One client shared how a simple practice of pausing to name their emotion before responding in a tense board meeting helped de-escalate conflict and steer the conversation toward collaboration.
    Maureen Metcalf, Forbes.com, 22 July 2025
  • Trump's trade deals with many countries—perhaps most notably China and the European Union—remain in tense negotiations, each one potentially affecting their manufacturing costs.
    Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 22 July 2025
Adjective
  • Cafu, on the other hand, will be entering the ring with plenty of confidence and hunger, knowing that an upset win could change his life and put him at the center of the super flyweight spotlight.
    Kilty Cleary, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 July 2025
  • Tamra explained that Shannon was upset that she and Alexis Bellino, who is currently engaged to Shannon’s ex John Janssen, were scheduled to be there at the same time.
    Liza Esquibias, People.com, 18 July 2025
Adjective
  • This is a disturbing statistic and speaks to an increase in the total number of people defacing themselves, but also a rise in the amount of ink per person.
    Scott Liftman, Boston Herald, 25 July 2025
  • The board of the Regional Transportation Authority met Friday to discuss ways to respond to the cut, striking a note of optimism to counter the disturbing prediction for Tri-Rail’s future.
    Rafael Olmeda, Sun Sentinel, 25 July 2025
Adjective
  • But Georgi seems apprehensive about their upcoming visit.
    Abigail Adams, People.com, 6 July 2025
  • Before the 1991 trip, none of the Abilene Boys had appeared apprehensive.
    Michael Barnes, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Nervous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nervous. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.

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