Definitions
unpredictably excitable (especially of horses)
Word origin
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.
Used in a sentence
“[T]here is nothing in marble equal to the Venus of Medici, for ſoftneſs and tenderneſs; as there is nothing ſo ſtrong and nervous, as the Hercules Farneſe.”
“Fortescutus illustratus, or a commentary on that nervous treatise De Laudibus Legum Angliæ […] [book title]”
“Nervous, clear, and striking, was almost all that he uttered […].”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“Uneasy and tense”7 letters
Not quite right?
"Search similar patterns."
N______