# nervous

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈnɜːvəs/ · frequency rank #3,513

## Definitions
1. Of sinews and tendons.
2. Of sinews and tendons.
3. Of sinews and tendons.
4. Of nerves.
5. Of nerves.
6. Of nerves.
7. Of nerves.
8. Of nerves.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **nervously** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/nervous-vs-nervously)
- **nerves** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/nerves-vs-nervous)

## Common misspellings (10)
`enrvous`, `nerovus`, `nerrvous`, `nervosu`, `nervouss`, `nervuos`, `nervvous`, `nevrous`, `nnervous`, `nrevous`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/nervous