Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use nervously in a sentence

40 example sentences · adverb

Nervously means in a nervous manner; feeling or displaying nervousness. Example: “He paced nervously as he waited for the important phone call.”

Examples of nervously by meaning

adverbIn a nervous manner; feeling or displaying nervousness.

  • He paced nervously as he waited for the important phone call.
  • She nervously undressed in the dancing beams of the Fidra lighthouse, giving it all away before it's too late1987, Derek Dick, “Warm Wet Circles”, in Clutching at Straws, performed by Marillion

More sentences with nervously

  • She clutched her purse tightly and walked nervously into the building.From the entry clutch
  • She dialed nervously, praying that Grandma would pick up the phone and everything would turn out OK.From the entry pick up the phone
  • She sat and nervously twiddled her hair while she waited.From the entry twiddle
  • The child walked nervously down the dark, foreboding street.From the entry forboding
  • The snooker player rechalked his cue nervously between shots.From the entry rechalk
  • He bounces nervously on his chair.From the entry bounce
  • She immediately stepped away from Arik, combing her hair with her fingers nervously.2020, Stefan Prebil, Icediamonds Trilogy Volume 2. From the entry plapper
  • He grabbed a bottle of hydro from the bureau and fumbled nervously to open it.2011 October 17, eric.k.gale, “Cronus Distraction”, in Io Rising: Espionage in the Twenty-Third Century, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse…. From the entry hydro
  • “Spinoza is a Sephardic name, but I’m mostly Ashkenazi,” said Joshua, nervously overbuttering his bread.2006, Y[oun-Kee] Euny Hong, “Sunday Brunch”, in Kept: A Comedy of Sex and Manners, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 112. From the entry overbutter
  • Dominic, have you got any acid?" Emma kept running her hands nervously through her hair.2003, Marianne Hancock, Looking for Oliver, page 90. From the entry gear
  • Go where it's safe." The haole couple next to me nervously chuckled.2002, Rona Tamiko Halualani, In the Name of Hawaiians: Native Identities and Cultural Politics, U of Minnesota Press, →ISBN, page 166. From the entry nightmarcher
  • She swallowed nervously then, appearing near sick with what she had to say.1979, VC Andrews, Flowers in the Attic. From the entry swallow
  • Nervously, he wiped the gun of fingerprints real and imaginary with the stocking-covered fingers.1974, Patricia Highsmith, chapter 7, in Ripley's Game. From the entry fingerprint
  • He is quite as nervously broken down as I am but it manifests itself in different ways.1936 Sept. 15, F. Scott Fitzgerald, letter to Beatrice Dance. From the entry melancholy
  • In the States, even a hero nervously clutches his "skedule" to heart or hip, as pockets determine.1935, Friends' Intelligencer, Volume 92, Issues 27-52, Digitized edition, Pennsylvania State Univ., published 2010, page 567. From the entry skedule
  • It was alone, nervously alighting and flying short distances along the surf.1900, Joseph Grinnell, Birds of the Kotzebue Sound Region, Alaska, page 12. From the entry surf
  • I watched her clench and unclench her fists nervously.2019, Candice Carty-Williams, Queenie, Trapeze, page 330. From the entry unclench
  • She fumbled with her hands nervously because her loyalty is to her brother so basically it was her life or his.2019, Denisha Bates, Captured by a Flint Boss: A Hood Love Story, Shan Presents, →ISBN, page 138. From the entry fetti
  • Vicki smoothed her V-line shirt a little nervously.2015, Jan Larson, The Eye of the Storm. From the entry v-line
  • "I thought we could scarf some grindage at the Blue Moon," she suggested, nervously smoothing out her skirt.2012, J. J. Massa, The Montgomery Family Chronicles, Book 4: Family Matters, page 102. From the entry grindage
  • The soldiers stood their ground, shifting nervously.1993, Mercedes Lackey, Mark Shepherd, Prison of Souls, Riverdale, N.Y.: Baen Books, →ISBN, page 61. From the entry swordtip
  • I sidled up to a particularly Ocker character on the edge of a group and nervously explained my mission.1984, Sandra Jobson, Blokes, page 11. From the entry ocker
  • Last month the $7-billion women's garment industry was nervously poised on the brink of another fall buying season.1971, Forbes - Volume 108, page 18. From the entry kneesie
  • He rolled his eyes nervously toward the balcony.1970, Wally Ferris, Across 110th, page 222. From the entry ill-fitting
  • After the tournament, Player admitted that all through the final round he had been nervously waiting for more trouble.1969 August 29, “Golf: The Confidence Man”, in Time. From the entry wait for the other shoe to drop
  • She ran down the stairs which she had come up so nervously that morning and cannoned into Edmund at the bottom.1952, C. S. Lewis, chapter 11, in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Collins, published 1998. From the entry cannon
  • A window opened above the shop, and a frowsty-looking man, yellow-pale, was quickly and nervously hauling in the national flag.1918–1921 (date written), D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “XX Settembre”, in Aaron’s Rod, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Seltzer, published April…. From the entry ignominiously
  • While swimming, the Sea Pigeon nervously ducks its head at frequent intervals, appearing to be dabbing at the water.1905, Charles Wendell Townsend, The Birds of Essex County, Massachusetts, page 83. From the entry sea pigeon
  • "The stage ought to be here," said Miranda, glancing nervously at the tall clock for the twentieth time.1903, Kate Douglas Wiggin, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. From the entry tack up
  • The night of the ceremony arrived, and I co-hosted an Oscar party in one of Harvard’s Hogwartsian common rooms while nervously anticipating the results.2019, Ben Zauzmer, Oscarmetrics: The Math Behind the Biggest Night in Hollywood, BearManor Media, →ISBN, page x. From the entry Hogwartsian
  • "Yeah, perfectly safe," Andie says nervously.2018, Cindy Dorminy, In a Jam, Red Adept Publishing. From the entry Joe Dirt
  • It is not uncommon to see sheep or cattle nervously thrashing about as they ride a zipline from one river bank to the other.2014, Bryan Tilt, Dams and Development in China: The Moral Economy of Water and Power, Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 92. From the entry zipline
  • Sven, for the most part, stayed in the backdrop hovering nervously near the parlor window, where he now kept vigil for newly arriving guests .2013, John E. Rawson, Blind Vigil, page 102. From the entry keep vigil
  • The apple in his neck was hitting against his collar every time he drew breath and he tore at his collar nervously.a. 1985 (date written), Liam O’Flaherty, “Josephine”, in A[ngeline] A. Kelly, editor, The Collected Stories, volume 1, New York, N.Y.…. From the entry apple
  • Arthur looked at it with incomprehension.¶ "Shake," prompted Ford.¶ Arthur did, nervously at first, as if it might turn out to be a fish.1982 August, Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; 3), London: Pan Books, →ISBN, page 15. From the entry disengage
  • He procured himself a glass of water from the sideboard, drank half of it and began to pace the room nervously as he talked.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards…. From the entry sideboard
  • "I've no money," began Harry nervously.1902, The Boy's Own Annual, volume 25, page 402. From the entry albert
  • While they were drinking prelunch martinis, a staffer entered the room nervously, the urgency of the moment signaled by the fact that he approached Graham in just his shirtsleeves.2017, R Aldous, Schlesinger: The Imperial Historian. From the entry shirtsleeves

Meaning of nervously

  1. adverb In a nervous manner; feeling or displaying nervousness.

Full definition of nervously

Questions about nervously in a sentence

How do you use nervously in a sentence?
Nervously is used as an adverb. For example: “He paced nervously as he waited for the important phone call.”
What is a short sentence with nervously?
“"I've no money," began Harry nervously.”
What does nervously mean?
Nervously means in a nervous manner; feeling or displaying nervousness.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: nervously (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use nervously in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/nervously. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.