From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English un‧nerve /ʌnˈnɜːv $ -ɜːrv/ verb [ transitive] to upset or frighten someone so that they lose their confidence or their ability to think clearly He was unnerved by the way Sylvia kept staring at him. —unnerving adjective an unnerving experience → See Verb table Examples from the Corpus unnerve • The interviewer was unnerved and changed the subject quickly.

to make someone feel less confident and slightly frightened: I think it unnerved me to be interviewed by so many people.