A method of operating a nonvolatile memory device is provided as follows. The nonvolatile memory device includes memory blocks each of which has word lines. A setup voltage is applied to the word lines. A word line voltage is applied to a first word line selected from the word lines. Recovery voltages are applied to the word lines. Each recovery voltage is applied to at least one corresponding word line of the word lines. The recovery voltages have different voltage levels from each other.