unnerve
Make someone uneasy
To unnerve is to make someone lose confidence or composure, to shake their nerve.
The effect is unsettling rather than terrifying—more about disrupting someone's calm than inducing panic: His steady gaze unnerved her.
The silence in the empty building was unnerving.
Something unnerving gets under your skin in a way that's hard to shake off.
Cause unease or anxiety
- disconcertDisturb composure or poise
- discomposeTo disturb calm
- perturbTo disturb deeply
- disquietMental unrest or agitation
rattle · faze · shake · fluster · agitate · throw · trouble · upset
Discourage through fear
- cowFemale bovine
- overaweSubdue by inspiring dread
- browbeatIntimidate through pressure
- demoralizeDestroy confidence or resolve
menace · threaten · alarm · frighten · scare · terrify · petrify · panic
Cause utter confusion
- baffleConfuse or perplex
- confoundTo thoroughly puzzle
- perplexCause utter confusion
- nonplusConfound beyond response
disorient · befuddle · muddle · mystify · puzzle · stump · stun · daze
Nervous anticipation of trouble
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
- trepidationFearful uncertainty
- uneaseMild persistent worry
- jittersNervous agitation
edginess · tension · worry · angst · disquiet · foreboding · butterflies · shaky
unsettle
Cause unease or anxiety
- disconcertDisturb composure or poise
- discomposeTo disturb calm
- perturbTo disturb deeply
disquiet · rattle · faze · shake · fluster · agitate · throw · trouble · upset · dismay
daunt
Discourage through fear
demoralize · menace · threaten · alarm · frighten · scare · terrify · petrify · panic · spook
bewilder
Cause utter confusion
nonplus · disorient · befuddle · muddle · mystify · puzzle · stump · stun · daze · blindside
apprehension
Nervous anticipation of trouble
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
- trepidationFearful uncertainty
- uneaseMild persistent worry
jitters · edginess · tension · worry · angst · disquiet · foreboding · butterflies · shaky · trembling
- fear reactionsscream, scared, gasp, terrified, flinch
- discouraging actionsdeter, dissuade, daunt, dishearten, demoralize
- mind gamesmind game, head game, head games, mind games, intimidation
- scare tacticsfrighten, terrify, intimidate, threaten, menace
- embarrassmentembarrassed, blush, humiliated, mortify, mortified
- stunstun, daze, shock, stupefy, stagger