nerve-racking
adjUS /ˈnɝv ˌɹækɪŋ/
Etymology 1812.
1
Intensely irritating or distressing to the nerves.
- His own greeting was equally cordial. "Still exploring!" he cried, as he shook them by the hand. "We will hope your new experiences will not be so nerve-racking as our last."1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
- Synonyms
- gut-wrenching
- Derived terms
- nerve-rackingly
- Related terms
- pain-racked