nervy

From nerve +‎ -y.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈnɜː.vi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈnɝ.vi/

• Audio (US):

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nervy (comparative nervier, superlative nerviest)

1. (US) Having nerve; bold; brazen.
   • 1988 April, David Gans, “Ted Nelson And The Ultimate Information Machine”, in MicroTimes, page 55:

     It takes a nervy man to promulgate such stuff, and Ted Nelson has made a career out of being nervy.

2. (British) Feeling nervous, anxious or agitated.
   • 2012 May 9, John Percy, “Birmingham City 2 Blackpool 2 (2-3 on agg): match report”, in The Telegraph‎:

     Blackpool continue to thrive on the adrenalin rush of the end-of-season shoot-out and are heading for a second Wembley date in two years after negotiating a nervy path past Birmingham.

   • 2022 August 24, Peter Bradshaw, “Mr Malcolm’s List review – Regency romcom served with cake-icing of irony”, in The Guardian‎:

     She has been asked on a date to see The Barber of Seville in the company of society’s wealthiest and most eligible bachelor, the Hon Jeremy Malcolm (Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù) who is bored by her nervy and untutored chatter.

3. (archaic) Strong; sinewy.
   • 1818, John Keats, “Book I”, in Endymion: A Poetic Romance, London: T Miller,  for Taylor and Hessey, , →OCLC, page 1:

     And, for those simple times, his garments were / A chieftain-king's: beneath his breast, half bare, / Was hung a silver bugle, and between / His nervy knees there lay a boar-spear keen […]

4. (technical) jittery; having unwanted signal characteristics.

• nervily
• nerviness

• nervous