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énervé

irritated, annoyed

adjective eh-nehr-VEH Rare

Origin: From the verb énerver, from Latin enervare 'to weaken'

Also means

nervous, on edge

Usage Note

Énervé is the past-participle adjective of énerver. While the Latin origin suggests weakness, modern French uses it to mean irritated or agitated rather than weakened. The feminine form is énervée. A stronger synonym is exaspéré, while nerveux leans more toward anxious.

Examples

"Elle était vraiment énervée ce matin."

Natural Translation

She was really annoyed this morning.

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