nervous wreck

nervous wreck

Someone who is overcome with anxiety, apprehension, or nervousness. Where have you been all night? I've been a nervous wreck waiting for you to come home! I'm going to be a nervous wreck waiting to hear back from the doctor about the test results.
See also: nervous, wreck
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

nervous wreck

An individual suffering from extreme agitation or worry, as in Pat was a nervous wreck until her mother arrived at the wedding. This expression is nearly always used hyperbolically. [Colloquial; c. 1900] Also see basket case.
See also: nervous, wreck
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
See also:
  • reck
  • cold feet, to get/have
  • cold feet
  • marinate
  • (one's) knees are knocking
  • cold feet, get
  • get cold feet
  • get/have cold feet
  • have cold feet
  • tie into knots
References in periodicals archive
It had made the complainant a nervous wreck. He was adamant that no such thing had happened and he went to the police.
Drug debt man made blackmail sex threat; JAILED FOR DEMANDING PS400 FROM VICTIM WHO FEARED FALSE CLAIMS
There are so many hazards getting kids ready that I'm a nervous wreck
Clare Johnston
I want to learn properly so I am not a nervous wreck on the roads." Artist Tracey Emin who has vowed to take driving lessons in the United States.
TODAY'S QUOTES
His dad is a nervous wreck when he boxes and Sullivan isn't bothered by anything.
Sullivan's aiming for six of the best; BOXING
London, Apr 8 ( ANI ): Rory McIlroy - battling to win his first US Masters in Augusta - is making his tennis star girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki quite the nervous wreck.
McIlroy's Masters meltdown giving Wozniacki 'heart attacks'
Meanwhile, Gary Windass is a nervous wreck and Becky is guilt-ridden over stealing cash from Dev's shop - and worried sick when she discovers the CCTV camera survived and the tape may be salvaged.
CORONATION STREET; TELLY VIEW
It's great to be a good student, but you also want to be a happy, healthy person, not a nervous wreck.
Always worried
Dunga was a nervous wreck - he was obsessed by the referee and so were his squad.
Big Phil could be ready to rescue Brazil in 2014
Bobby Robson was harassed continually in spite of triumphs, and Graham Taylor, who succeeded him, was reduced almost to a nervous wreck by criticism.
Give Sven a break
It wasn't until 1989 that I gave myself permission to lecture on lesbian and gay issues and what a nervous wreck I was.
Dena Rosenfeld. The Changing of the Guard: Lesbian and Gay Elders, Identity and Social Change
I was a nervous wreck, but after arriving at the Heath Hospital, I was reassured from the start until my release the next day.
Medics should be so proud
"I was a nervous wreck," confessed Mayer "I didn't sleep and I gained 40 lbs.
Relaxing at 'Home'
And Jonathan's wife, Jenifer (Jodie Markell), is a nervous wreck, partly because her husband's narcissism sucks all the oxygen out of the room and partly because her 6-year-old daughter is ill back in New York with a mysterious ailment Jenifer fears is HIV-related because she and Michael had a fling 12 years ago, before she got married and he came out.
Snakebit