Word.ws English Dictionary

nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs

UK/ˈnɜːvəs(ˈ)æz‿ə ˈlɒŋˌteɪld ˈkæt(ˈ)ɪn‿ə ˈɹʊm(ˈ)fʊl ɒv ˈɹɒkɪŋˌt͡ʃɛəz//ˈnɝvəs(ˈ)æz‿ə ˈlɑŋˌteɪld ˈkæt(ˈ)ɪn‿ə ˈɹum(ˈ)fʊl ʌv ˈɹɑkɪŋˌt͡ʃɛɹz/

nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs adjective: extremely nervous.

Adjective

nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs

  1. (simile) Extremely nervous.
    • And to top things off, Osama bin Laden has released another audiotape threatening more attacks in the west, which conjures up unpleasant visions of even greater unrest. It all makes oil traders feel as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.2006 January 20, “Oil on the up, again”, in The Economist, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 Jul 2020
    • The excitement is in the air here in DC, where rumor has it that the Supreme Court is about to hand down a decision on Heller. Finally, hopefully, we'll have an answer: does the Second Amendment protect an individual right, or not? If so, we can then get down to wrangling about whether that right...2008 June 25, Megan McArdle, “To [District of Columbia v.] Heller and Back”, in James Bennet, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the...

Examples of nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs in a sentence

  • I confess, I'm as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.2008 June 25, Megan McArdle, “To [District of Columbia v.] Heller and Back”, in James Bennet, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The...
  • NBC’s Brian Williams said Israelis are “as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.”2011 February 10, Nitasha Tiku, “Hosni Mubarak May Be Stepping Down [Updated]”, in Intelligencer, New York, N.Y.: New York Media, →ISSN...

Synonyms of nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs

21 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Origin of nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs

A more elaborate form of nervous as a cat. The implication is that the cat is afraid of its long tail being caught underneath a rocking chair.

Questions about nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs

What does nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs mean?
Nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs means extremely nervous.
How do you use nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs in a sentence?
I confess, I'm as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
What part of speech is nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs?
Nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs is an adjective.
How do you pronounce nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs?
Nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs is pronounced /ˈnɜːvəs(ˈ)æz‿ə ˈlɒŋˌteɪld ˈkæt(ˈ)ɪn‿ə ˈɹʊm(ˈ)fʊl ɒv ˈɹɒkɪŋˌt͡ʃɛəz/ (UK).

Words near nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs in the dictionary

  1. nervosism
  2. nervosities
  3. nervosity
  4. nervous
  5. nervous as a cat
  6. nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs
  7. nervous as a whore in church
  8. nervous breakdown
  9. nervous breakdowns
  10. nervous hit
  11. nervous hits

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.wav, En-au-nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.ogg.

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