English, baby!

nerve-wracking

Date: May 22 2003

Quote

1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.

“It was more the leading up to it that was nerve-wracking, but in the end it was tastefully done.”
- Carrie-Anne Moss, talking about filming her love scene with Keanu Reeves in The Matrix Reloaded.

Definition

1. Definition - Study the definition.

intensely stressful; stress causing; making one feel nervous

2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.

You can use “nerve-wracking” to describe anything that makes you feel nervous or stressed. If something makes you uncomfortable, it’s probably nerve-wracking and you should probably try to avoid it. Unfortunately, that’s not always possible. For example, studying for a history test could be nerve-wracking, but you have to study anyway.
The good thing about things that are nerve-wracking is that they sometimes turn out to be fun! A rollercoaster could be nerve-wracking, but that’s part of the reason to ride it!

Examples

1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.

“That math test was so nerve-wracking! I hate math. I’m so scared that I failed completely.”

“Oh, my goodness! My date with Jeff was so nerve-wracking. He’s a really nice guy, but for some reason, I feel really nervous when I’m with him.”

“My job interview went well, but it was totally nerve-wracking. They asked me so many difficult questions.”

Winners

1. Winners - See who guessed the slang definition correctly.

I think that it’s used to describe something intensively stressful???
by Hiro (Chiba, Japan)
I GUESS IT IS TO BE ON AN EXTREMELY NERVOUS SITUATION.
by elisa (Miami, USA)
Well, I think this slang means causing a great mental strain; strainIntensely distressing or irritating to the nerves.
by Sherry (ShenZhen, China)
i think it means to cause somebody enough headache, troublesome or bothersome.
by Rita (Shenzhen, China)
Causing bother, troublesome, and it’s so hard to find out a method to resolve it.
by Thanksf (ChongQing, China)
I think “nerve-wracking” is something than makes you feel very nervous and worried.
by Orlando (Tampa Florida, United States)
when something its difficult to do it or extremelly dangerous, you need a extra ability or aptitude in order to make it or to have succesful
by Alejandro (Duesseldorf, Germany)
nerve-racking means to be extremely nervous about something or someone
by monica (S.B.Campo, Brazil)
The idiom means, something that is painful, that causes tension or uneasiness, something that is uncomfortable.
by Anji (Doha, Qatar)
something that takes you to the very edge, a very strenous situation/condition
by Marcelo (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
She thought that it would have been a tough situation to go through, that she was dreading doing it.
by Gaby (São Paulo, Brasil)
something that is difficult to do
by Carolina (Ottawa, Canada)
I think it means intractable, something you can’t do it well
by Chen (Hanzhong, China)
Irritating, makes somebody anxious
by Od (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)
make a person crazy, not able to sustain
by guo (China)
I think it means stressful. Something that gives you a lot of tension.
by Ricardo (Bogotá, Colombia)
I guess it means exteemely boring ,disturb somebody too much ,make people feel bad .irritating as so on .example :he plays piano badly .it is nerve-wracking to listen .but he don’t aware that .he played it all the noon, almost drive me mad.i couldn’t enjoy chatting at all .
by mar (ShenZhen, china )
I GUESS THAT NEVER – WRACKING OR NEVER RACKING MEANS—SOMETHING THAT MAKE YOU FEEL VERY NERVOUS AND WORRIED.
by MAURICIO (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
offensive … unpleasant
by rose (Tehran)
I think”nerve-wracking” means breaking down someone, it’s used to describe someone get a misfortune and is shocked greatly.
by Eriya (Shanghai, China)
hurt your mind
by chee seong (Ipoh, Malaysia)
I think ‘nerve-wracking’ means something is very difficult to be done.
by Tracy (Hong Kong, China)
I think it means to hard to do.
by Puff (SZ, China)
difficult to do, bothersome
by Jing (XX, China)
i think it means that Carrie-Anne Moss was talking about the scenes she must play showing her love to Keanu Reeves.
by ali (Ahwaz, Iran)