nerve-racking

adjective

nerve-rack·​ing ˈnərv-ˌra-kiŋ 

variants or nerve-wracking

: extremely trying on the nerves

a nerve-racking ordeal

The job interview was a nerve-racking experience.

Synonyms

• agitating
• anxious
• creepy
• disquieting
• distressful
• distressing
• disturbing
• fraught
• hairy
• nail-biting
• nervous
• restless
• tense
• uneasy
• unnerving
• unsettling
• worrisome

Examples of nerve-racking in a Sentence

the nerve-racking wait to learn the identities of the passengers who were killed in the plane crash

Recent Examples on the Web

This is the nerve-racking question that has been circling in the mind of the Venezuelan mother in New York City all week. —Nicole Acevedo, NBC news, 27 May 2025

What could be an exciting, life-changing experience can turn into a nerve-racking encounter that many people of color do not want to have again. —Serena Billett, Charlotte Observer, 20 May 2025

One of them is a nerve-racking, crosscutting game of misdirection and accumulating danger atop a balance beam. —A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 19 May 2025

What should have been an incredibly nerve-racking week for Liverpool and their fans is now simply just people being excited about watching the Premier League’s new champions play again. —Andy Jones, New York Times, 11 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1812, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for nerve-racking

• hydrocracking
• attacking
• backpacking
• backtracking
• hijacking
• kayaking
• meatpacking
• ransacking
• repacking
• unpacking
• backing
• blacking