adjective

• Causing great anxiety or tension.

  ‘a nail-biting final game’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Dorking will have to endure a nail-biting final game of the season.’
  • ‘Months of anxious waiting and nail-biting tension came to an end this week for more than 2000 local students who were anxiously awaiting the big occasion.’
  • ‘They had to endure almost constant second half pressure, wasting countless opportunities to ease the nail-biting tension and, quite frankly, inviting trouble.’
  • ‘After weeks of gruelling auditions and nail-biting tension, millions of fans tuned in on Saturday night as the final 10 boys and 10 girls were announced.’
  • ‘We expect plenty of nail-biting tension but lots of good humour and grace under fire as well.’
  • ‘The upshot is a scene of hilarious, nail-biting tension.’
  • ‘If it is good old-fashioned, nail-biting, tension gripped, nerve jangling action you are looking for, then tune in to the weekly Championship episode.’
  • ‘No jostling for the lead, no mid-race tension, no nail-biting finish.’
  • ‘And, of course, it means relinquishing power in due course - but going gently into that good night, rather than after some final, nail-biting showdown.’
  • ‘Then throw in a nail-biting final against a team from Switzerland, a country best known for making chocolate and cuckoo clocks, and the result is a moment of pure British sporting glory.’
  • ‘‘It was clear to our operators at the works that fans dare not leave their seats as the final came to nail-biting climax,’ the spokesman added.’
  • ‘The plucky youngster, who is battling cancer of the spine, was delighted to be allowed home from hospital in time to watch the nail-biting final on television.’
  • ‘The mixed triples final proved almost as nail-biting.’
  • ‘The climax, with all its moments of high drama and nail-biting tension, is classic adventure story stuff.’
  • ‘First the public vote to save one of the three - then it is up to the rest of the students to choose between the remaining two in a nail-biting final vote.’
  • ‘The quarter and semi-finals will then be held in London and will culminate in the nail-biting national final.’
  • ‘But actual nail-biting tension is something of a lost art among the newest members of Hollywood's hacks.’
  • ‘As they advance through the playoffs, the basketball staff looks forward to a nail-biting final between the two teams.’
  • ‘A nail-biting final ten minutes saw both tiring sides slugging it out in the middle of the pitch for supremacy.’
  • ‘The final quarter was a real nail-biting affair.’

  Synonyms

  nerve-racking, stressful, anxious, worrying, concerning, fraught, charged, strained, nail-biting, worrisome, difficult, uneasy, uncomfortable