nerve-wracking
"nerve-wracking" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“nerve-wracking” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Alternative form of nerve-racking.
Corpus desk
Index EN-nerve-wracking · nerve-wracking · English
nerve-wracking · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 14 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "N" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | nerve-wracking |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “nerve-wracking” in English
Rare enough to double-check
nerve-wracking is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Alternative form of nerve-racking.".
Zero misspellings are on record for nerve-wracking in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: 1867, following earlier nerve-racking (1812). The correct English form is nerve-wracking, spelled N-E-R-V-E---W-R-A-C-K-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1Alternative form of nerve-racking.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how nerve-wracking appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
To thrust this grating, screeching, nerve wracking, heart-rending, worse than Pandemonial howling, upon such an occasion, is the climax of cruelty.
One could hardly commend any of these nerve-wracking exploits; [...].
Etymology
1867, following earlier nerve-racking (1812).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.