nerve-racking

or nerve-wrack·ing

[ nurv-rak-ing ]
See synonyms for nerve-racking on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. extremely irritating, annoying, or trying: a nerve-racking day; a nerve-racking noise.

Origin of nerve-racking

1
First recorded in 1805–15

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use nerve-racking in a sentence

  • These two months were very nerve wracking due to the continual bombing of Nuremburg which was only three miles away.

  • A wild, nerve-wracking cheer went up, as—sword in hand—Jean Bart led his boarders over the side of the Dutch vessel.

  • Suddenly a nerve-wracking, ear-piercing vibration filled the room.

    A Son of the City | Herman Gastrell Seely
  • But Janet preferred not to listen to the wind; it was too mournful, too nerve-wracking.

    Janet Hardy in Hollywood | Ruthe S. Wheeler

British Dictionary definitions for nerve-racking

nerve-racking

adjective
  1. very distressing, exhausting, or harrowing

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012