NERVOUSNESS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does nervousness mean? 

• NERVOUSNESS (noun)
  The noun NERVOUSNESS has 3 senses:

1. the anxious feeling you have when you have the jitters

2. an uneasy psychological state

3. a sensitive or highly strung temperament

  Familiarity information: NERVOUSNESS used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NERVOUSNESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The anxious feeling you have when you have the jitters

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

jitteriness; jumpiness; nervousness; restiveness

Hypernyms ("nervousness" is a kind of...):

anxiety (a vague unpleasant emotion that is experienced in anticipation of some (usually ill-defined) misfortune)

Derivation:

nervous (excited in anticipation)

nervous (causing or fraught with or showing anxiety)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An uneasy psychological state

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

nerves; nervousness

Context example:

he suffered an attack of nerves

Hypernyms ("nervousness" is a kind of...):

mental condition; mental state; psychological condition; psychological state ((psychology) a mental condition in which the qualities of a state are relatively constant even though the state itself may be dynamic)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "nervousness"):

heebie-jeebies; jitters; screaming meemies (extreme nervousness)

mental strain; nervous strain; strain ((psychology) nervousness resulting from mental stress)

Derivation:

nervous (causing or fraught with or showing anxiety)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A sensitive or highly strung temperament

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("nervousness" is a kind of...):

disposition; temperament (your usual mood)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "nervousness"):

queasiness; restlessness; uneasiness (inability to rest or relax or be still)

restiveness; skittishness (characterized by nervousness and quickness to take fright)

Derivation:

nervous (unpredictably excitable (especially of horses))

nervous (easily agitated)

 Context examples 

He could see no reason for it and attributed it to her nervousness.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A question about an individual's distress related to their emotional problems with nervousness.

(Distress over Emotional Problem with Nervousness, NCI Thesaurus)

A question about whether an individual has or had been bothered by nervousness or their nerves.

(Have You Been Bothered By Nervousness or Your Nerves, NCI Thesaurus)

Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) Does the patient complain of butterflies in his/her stomach, or of racing or pounding of the heart in association with nervousness?

(NPI - Complain of Butterflies, Racing or Pounding Heart, NCI Thesaurus)

Symptoms include weight loss, chest pain, cramps, diarrhea, and nervousness.

(Hyperthyroidism, NCI Dictionary)

Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) Does the patient have periods of (or complain of) shortness of breath, gasping, or sighing for no apparent reason other than nervousness?

(NPI - Periods of Shortness of Breath, Gasping, or Sighing for No Apparent Reason, NCI Thesaurus)

This letter has been the cure of all the little nervousness I have been feeling lately.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

“It is only nervousness,” she answered.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

We all followed his movements with our eyes, for undoubtedly some nervousness was growing on us, and we saw a whole mass of phosphorescence, which twinkled like stars.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

His plump face was twitching with his nervousness, and his fingers could not keep still.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)