nervy

Related to nervy: easy mark, unconquerable

nervy

1. Very anxious, easily distressed, or high-strung. I heard a gunshot in our neighborhood last night, and I've been horribly nervy ever since. The new intern is this nervy little mouse of a boy who leaps out of his chair if you so much as cough too loudly near him.
2. Daring or fearless; courageous. You've got to be pretty nervy to jump out of a plane and trust a little backpack to save your life. I've got to hand it to you, kid—that was a nervy move.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

nervy

1. mod. nervous. Mary is so nervy. Anything will set her off.
2. mod. daring; courageous. Don’t get nervy with me!
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • high-strung
  • strung
  • highly
  • highly-strung
  • squirrelly
  • sweat it out
  • sweat out
  • all of a doodah
  • strung (up)
  • die by (something)
References in periodicals archive
Guardiola's side took a while to find their rhythm in a nervy opening quarter of an hour.
"It [the Bangalore bombings] definitely made me more nervy. We went over there with the threat, I guess, but when that happened it became a reality," The New Zealand Herald quoted Bond, as saying.
Having won a nervy opening set the Russian lost her serve at 4-3 when the finishing line was in sight and was eventually pushed all the way by the unfancied Australian..
Ding's team theorizes that prehistoric people who trekked from Africa to distant locales may have relied on nervy, intrepid individuals to lead the journey.
Despite the superior results achieved compared to more conventional extruders when processing most compounds, the extrusion of others, typically nervy natural rubber, has posed more of a challenge.
Fuksas' fragment of city is a nervy restless landscape in which there is nothing symmetrical and everything is calculated to promote the dynamic.
What a rich set of ingredients for a fresh, nervy post-cold War thriller.
Hamilton boss Canning said: "It was a horrendous start from us and we were nervy which was maybe understandable with the form we're in - but there was no reason to be.
United's nervy SMALLING called for Samuel SMALLING conceded a penalty on United's last visit to St James's Park with some poor defending and it is alarming such an experienced footballer should succumb to mistakes those 10 years younger are prone to making.
But the policeman said: "It's OK, Tony, I know who you are, it's all right." Before sending the nervy pair on their way, the officer added: "We are on the lookout for all sorts...
VIKINGS boss Denis Betts saluted Championship outfit Batley after his side's nervy passage into the quarter finals with a 26-22 victory.
That made things unnecessarily nervy for the home side in the closing stages but they closed out victory to tee up a last-eight meeting with Steve Bruce's former club Sunderland, who they have already beaten twice this season.
Instead Malaga, who, for all their opponents' dominance, still caused Dortmund the odd nervy moment, will travel to the Westfalenstadion still in with a shout of the last four.
Villas-Boas, who punched the air with glee after a nervy last 20 minutes, said: "We have wanted this home win for some time but for whatever reason it has escaped us."
NERVY individuals may be more at risk of aggressive cancer, new research suggests.