Skip to content
Vinony

unnerve

verb

  1. cause to be nervous
L333404 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ʌnˈnɜː(ɹ)v/

verb

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂éntsder. Proto-Germanic *anda- Proto-West Germanic *anda- Old English and- Old English on- Middle English on- English un- English nerve English unnerve From un- + nerve.

  1. To deprive of nerve, force, or strength; to weaken; to enfeeble. Compare enervate.

    “to unnerve the arm”

  2. To make somebody nervous, upset, alarm, shake the resolve of.

    “I was greatly unnerved by the news that my attacker was back in the country.”

    “But new immigration is no longer the primary driver of the growing racial, ethnic and religious diversity that unnerves much of the GOP coalition.”