variants
or nervous Nelly
as in nervous wreck
a person who is inclined to worry
many new parents are nervous Nellies when it comes to the health of their babies
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Recent Examples of nervous Nellie
Stephanie, the president’s Nervous Nellie secretary, undergoes a personality change after dipping into Bernadette’s bag of pills.
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Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 28 Jan. 2024
Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 28 Jan. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Nervous Nellie.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nervous%20Nellie. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
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