as in tense
marked by or causing agitation or uncomfortable feelings
for a couple of nail-biting moments we thought that we had actually won the mega lottery
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nail-biting
Adjective
-
Over the past few weeks, Bieber has found himself at the center of increasingly tense run-ins with paparazzi.—
Larisha Paul,
Rolling Stone,
16 June 2025 -
Their only hope is to get to a nearby island, a situation made harder – and much more tense – by a clever great white, noteworthy for being a real shark rather than a CGI one like most films use.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
16 June 2025
Adjective
-
Some are bigger than others: economic uncertainty, changing customer behaviors, personal isolation, leadership burnout, marketing crisis, brand reputation, uneasy board members, investor expectations, consumer confidence, health issues and family challenges.—
Nancy Padberg,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2025
-
But Musk’s rebuke has energized fiscal hawks in the Senate who were already uneasy with the legislation’s scope.—
Nik Popli,
Time,
3 June 2025
Adjective
-
The withdrawn teen obsessively draws dark spiders in class and shows a disturbing fixation on news reports of school shootings.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
6 June 2025
-
His disturbing legacy drew the attention of filmmaker and former HBO executive Kary Antholis, who had followed the case for decades.—
JP Mangalindan,
Time,
4 June 2025
Adjective
-
Human Parallels: Our Bias Toward Confident Eloquence Perhaps most unsettling is how closely this AI limitation mirrors a persistent human cognitive bias.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes.com,
10 June 2025
-
Graham says the casting team had considered looking for an older boy, given the demands of the role and the show’s unsettling subject matter.—
Glenn Whipp,
Los Angeles Times,
10 June 2025
Adjective
-
One in every three young adults aged 18-25 reports feeling anxious or lonely.—
Ann Kowal Smith,
Forbes.com,
17 June 2025
-
Coi Leray has blessed her anxious fans with first glimpses of her and Trippie Redd’s baby girl.—
Amber Corrine,
VIBE.com,
17 June 2025
Adjective
-
The video highlighted how visibly nervous Jessie was while using jokes to get through the show.—
Tomás Mier,
Rolling Stone,
6 June 2025
-
In a video played on Thursday's episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Hamill is shown giving his opening monologue declaring his love for film when a nervous expression crosses his face.—
Mekishana Pierre Updated,
EW.com,
5 June 2025
Adjective
-
Nothing rings more true than the trope of the restless adolescent.—
Stephanie Sengwe,
People.com,
7 June 2025
-
Across 17 restless songs, packed into 30 minutes, Mel V growls and scream-raps her way through a vicious yet silly mind dump.—
Alphonse Pierre,
Pitchfork,
6 June 2025
Adjective
-
Daniel is haunted by skeletons Back in 1984, Daniel LaRusso was beaten to a pulp by Johnny and his Cobra Kai buddies, who were all dressed in creepy skeleton costumes for Halloween.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
16 June 2025
-
Made by Cozy Game Pals, Fear the Spotlight primarily served as a retro fun and creepy, lower-stakes entry into the horror video game genre for younger or novice players.—
Destiny Jackson,
Deadline,
13 June 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Nail-biting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nail-biting. Accessed 20 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share