unnerving

/ənˈnʌrvɪŋ/

/ənˈnʌvɪŋ/

Other forms: unnervingly

Use the adjective unnerving to describe situations and experiences that cause you to lose your courage. No matter how brave you are, a walk alone through a cemetery at night is bound to be a little unnerving.

You might find it unnerving to get a flat tire on a deserted country road at sunset, or to find yourself onstage mid-play having completely forgotten your lines. In the 1620's, the root word unnerve meant "to destroy the strength of," but by the early 1700's it came to mean "to deprive of courage."

Definitions of unnerving

1. adjective

   inspiring fear
   “something unnerving and prisonlike about high grey wall”

   synonyms: formidable, redoubtable

   alarming

   frightening because of an awareness of danger