Phrase guide

get on someone's nerves

verb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To annoy or irritate someone; to bother someone.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

Examples

  • There’s an insect buzzing around in my bedroom tonight, and it’s really getting on my nerves.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: aggravate, annoy, nettle, rankle, ruffle, sting, antagonize, bother, disgruntle, botherate, bug, get, grate, burn up, bedevil, cheese off, devil, exasperate, frustrate, get up, grotch, hack off, hassle, irk, irritate, jazz, molest, mommick, nark, nerve, pee off, peeve, peeve off, persecute, pique, piss off, provoke, rile, rile up, roil, storm, test someone's patience, tick off, trouble, try one's patience, vex, wind up, Idioms:, boil someone's piss, chap someone's hide, get on someone's nerves, get on someone's tits, get on someone's wick, get someone's back up, get someone's dander up, get someone's goat, get someone's Irish up, get someone's nanny, get someone's nanny-goat, get under one's goat, get under someone's skin, give someone the shits, grind one's gears, harsh one's mellow, put someone's back up, raise someone's hackles, rub someone the wrong way, rub up the wrong way, ruffle someone's feathers, tee off, torque off

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

30 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 惹毛 (rěmáo) — annoy or irritate
  • Czech: lézt na nervy — annoy or irritate
  • Danish: gå nogen på nerverne — annoy or irritate
  • Dutch: op de zenuwen werken — annoy or irritate
  • Finnish: käydä hermoille — annoy or irritate
  • French: courir sur le haricot — annoy or irritate
  • French: taper sur les nerfs — annoy or irritate
  • French: casser les couilles — annoy or irritate
  • German: auf die Nerven gehen — annoy or irritate
  • Hungarian: az idegeire megy — annoy or irritate
  • Icelandic: fara á taugarnar á — annoy or irritate
  • Irish: duine a chur as a mheabhair — annoy or irritate
  • Italian: dare sui nervi — annoy or irritate
  • Italian: stare sui nervi — annoy or irritate
  • Italian: fare venire la mosca al naso — annoy or irritate
  • Italian: fare venire il latte alle ginocchia — annoy or irritate
  • Japanese: 神経を尖らせる (shinkei o togaraseru) — annoy or irritate
  • Korean: 거슬리다 (geoseullida) — annoy or irritate
  • Norwegian: gå noen på nervene — annoy or irritate
  • Polish: działać na nerwy — annoy or irritate
  • Polish: grać na nerwach — annoy or irritate
  • Portuguese: dar nos nervos — annoy or irritate
  • Russian: де́йствовать на не́рвы (déjstvovatʹ na nérvy) — annoy or irritate
  • Russian: играть на нервах (igratʹ na nervax) — annoy or irritate
  • Spanish: poner los nervios de punta — annoy or irritate
  • Spanish: alterar los nervios — annoy or irritate
  • Spanish: crispar los nervios — annoy or irritate
  • Spanish: poner de los nervios — annoy or irritate
  • Swedish: gå på nerverna — annoy or irritate
  • Thai: กวนประสาท — annoy or irritate