nervously
adverb
Simple meaning
In an anxious or worried way.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
nurvuhsleeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈnɝvəsli
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adverb
In an anxiously nervous manner
“We watched the stock market nervously.”
In a nervous manner; feeling or displaying nervousness.
With nervous excitement
“Our bodies jumped nervously away at the slightest touch.”
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: In an anxiously nervous manner
Used this way, nervously is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“We watched the stock market nervously.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use nervously
- “We watched the stock market nervously.”adverb
- “Our bodies jumped nervously away at the slightest touch.”adverb
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Of or relating to the nervous system.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
The anxious feeling you have when you have the jitters.
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “nervously” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.