Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Lacking strength or energy; spiritless; weak.
- adjective Lacking courage; cowardly.
- adjective Calm and controlled in trying circumstances; cool.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Without nerve; destitute of strength; weak.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Destitute of nerves.
- adjective Destitute of strength or of courage; wanting vigor; weak; powerless.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Lacking
nerve :fearful ;cowardly . - adjective biology Lacking a
nervous system . - adjective Devoid of
nerves :calm ,controlled , cool under pressure.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective lacking strength
- adjective marked by calm self-control (especially in trying circumstances); unemotional
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Today his tennis was full of punchy forehands, more drop shots – a few of them excellent, a couple not so good – and a nerveless service game that kept Chardy deep behind the baseline.
Andy Murray's spirits soar after place on world top table is secured Kevin Mitchell in Shanghai 2010
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Watson played it with about as much nerveless ease as a nerd on a first date with a supermodel.
Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson add power to USA's Ryder Cup bid Lawrence Donegan 2010
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With a gush of blood from his mouth, the man collapsed, sword tumbling from nerveless fingers.
Conan Fan Fiction! Cromsblood 2009
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With a sigh, his eyes rolled back and, dropping the daggers from nerveless fingers, the enemy collapsed to the floor.
Archive 2009-12-01 Reis O'Brien 2009
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With a gush of blood from his mouth, the man collapsed, sword tumbling from nerveless fingers.
Archive 2009-12-01 Reis O'Brien 2009
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His nerveless hand lost hold of the asura, who toppled separately.
GuildWars Edge of Destiny J. Robert King 2011
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Frona lay, head thrown back, sobbing at the sun; amidships Corliss sprawled panting; and forward, choking and gasping and nerveless, the
CHAPTER 25 2010
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Again he sat down and shuffled the bunch of matches on his knees, got it into place on his palm, with the wrist of his other hand forced the nerveless fingers down against the bunch, and with the wrist kept them there.
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And yet -- the men in the trained-animal game acknowledged him the nerviest and most nerveless of the profession.
CHAPTER XXIV 2010
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With a sigh, his eyes rolled back and, dropping the daggers from nerveless fingers, the enemy collapsed to the floor.
Conan Fan Fiction! Cromsblood 2009
qroqqa commented on the word nerveless
How's this for an autantonym? 'Nerveless' seems to have swung right round to become a term of praise: "full of courage" instead of "devoid of courage". Almost all the leading Google hits for uses of the word are in this sense (and in a sporting context). I'd never heard this sense before now, and would have thought it a grossly insulting misapplication, almost a malapropism. But apparently this is how it's used now.
August 28, 2009