unnerving
28
6.8
- adjective
- /ʌnˈnɜrvɪŋ/
- She found it unnerving to speak in front of such a large audience for the first time.
- so unnerving
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Watch on YouTubeI was just saying the parts you play are sometimes creepy and unnerving, OK?
- I was just saying the parts you play are sometimes creepy and unnerving, OK?
- There's very few things, though, more unnerving than peeling back that and realizing what it actually is.
- Steven walked in with my chamomile tea and just as I was about to put it to my lips I was struck by the most unnerving thought.
- I know it can be a little unnerving because you never know, you know, are your colleagues doing something similar?
- There is something unnerving about that, but the way that it lets all of us amplify our skills is incredible.
- And it was, it was quite unnerving to understand that that view has potentially been impacting me in profound ways without me knowing it.
- And and that's unnerving and more fun.
Examples
-
The woman continued to peer into the girl's face for a long, unnerving moment.
Fiction book (1998) -
But it's still a pretty unnerving way to start off the night.
-
So this, this is a particularly unnerving result.
-
It's way more unnerving, but it's not new in business.
-
But it was still an unnerving way to start off the night.
Fiction book (1995) -
The equanimity of the conversation seems almost as unnerving as the story itself.
Academic text (1991) -
There is something unnerving about that, but the way that it lets all of us amplify our skills is incredible.
-
It is genuinely unnerving to be standing here not able to see this with just this noise behind me.
-
The silence of the complex outside was unnerving, here in the middle of a weekday.
Fiction book (1997) -
Running a business was a new challenge for Wasden, who has found it both unnerving and invigorating.
Academic text (1996)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Causing fear or making you feel afraid
248
3.0
Causing someone to feel afraid
243
5.3
Making people feel very afraid
173
4.0
Causing worry or distress
102
5.3
Making someone feel afraid, nervous, or less confident
85
5.3
Making you feel very scared or worried
68
4.2
Making you feel worried or uneasy
32
7.2
Making you feel confused or uneasy
3
4.2
Causing someone to feel uneasy or worried
1
6.9
Making you feel worried or unsafe
1
6.1
Something that makes you feel tense and not calm
Antonyms
How Unnerving
243
5.3
248
3.0
357
4.2
28
6.8
68
4.2
8
7.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
unnerving = unnerve (transparent) = un + nerve + ing
Formed by a standard verb + -ing derivation from 'unnerve', so the step to the adjective is directly predictable.
Etymology
Unnerving comes from the parts un- meaning 'not' and nerve, an old word for 'courage' or 'strength', and you can see the same root in nervous. So something unnerving is like taking away someone's courage or calm, which is why it makes people feel nervous or afraid.