nervous
nerv·ous/ˈnɜːvəs/adjective
nervous is spelled N-E-R-V-O-U-S: 7 letters and 2 syllables (nerv·ous). It appears 26 times per million words in written English, the 3,479th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, nervous means “Supplied with nerves; innervated” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in nervous?
| Letters | 7: N-E-R-V-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: nerv·ous |
| In writing | 26 times per million words; the 3,479th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is nervous?
Nervous appears 26 times per million words in written English, the 3,479th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce nervous?
- UK /ˈnɜːvəs/
- British /ˈnəːvəs/
- /ˈnɛɾvəs/
Nervous has 2 syllables, split nerv·ous in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-nervous.ogg, En-au-nervous.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of nervous
- more nervous comparative
- most nervous superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does nervous mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
obsoleteFull of sinews.
- 2
obsoleteHaving strong or prominent sinews; sinewy, muscular.
- 3
obsoleteOf a piece of writing, literary style etc.: forceful, powerful.
- 4
Supplied with nerves; innervated.
- 5
Affecting or involving the nerves or nervous system.
- 6
obsoleteNervose.
- 7
Easily agitated or alarmed; edgy, on edge.
Being in a crowd of strangers makes me nervous.
- 8
Apprehensive, anxious, hesitant, worried.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Nervous in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does nervous come from?
From Middle English nervous (“composed of or incorporating nerves”), from Latin nervōsus (“nervous; sinewy; energetic, vigorous”), from nervus (“nerve; muscle; sinew, tendon; (figuratively) energy, power; nerve; force, strength, vigour”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *snéh₁wr̥ (“sinew, tendon”)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of, prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns). The English word is analysable as nerve + -ous.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).