nervøse

Nervöse is a German adjective meaning nervous or anxious, used to describe a state of heightened arousal, tension, or unease in a person, situation, or reaction. The base form is nervös; nervöse appears in various inflected positions depending on the noun it modifies, most commonly before feminine singular nouns (eine nervöse Frau) and in plural or other contexts (nervöse Reaktionen, nervöse Menschen). The word is part of a family of terms related to nerves and the nervous system, and it is often used in everyday language as well as in psychological or sociological descriptions.

Etymology and related forms: nervös derives from Latin nervosus (“nerve, sinewy”) and has cognates in other Germanic languages, such as Danish nervøs and Norwegian nervøs, which share the general sense of nervousness or anxiety. In German, nervös is the standard dictionary form, with nervöse serving as the inflected form used before certain nouns or in plural contexts.

Usage notes: nervös/nervöse is typically employed in non-technical contexts to convey emotional state rather than medical diagnosis. It can describe personal feelings (Ich bin nervös vor dem Gespräch), observable behavior (eine nervöse Taktung), or general atmosphere (eine nervöse Stimmung in der Gruppe). For clinical language, terms like Angstsymptom oder Angstausdruck are more common.

See also: nervös, Nervensystem, Angst, Angststörung.