as in resonant
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as in trilling
to sing with the alternation of two musical tones
know-it-alls snickered as the opera singer quavered on the high note
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of quavering
H.d. Angel, Pitchfork, 6 Feb. 2026
Literary Hub, 29 Jan. 2026
The combination of quavering flutes and solemn, unfamiliar corridors is disquieting.
—Hazlitt, 10 Dec. 2025
Funke, her voice quavering throughout, recounted the events of the previous night.
—Sasha Pezenik, ABC News, 5 Sep. 2025
Her voice quavering with emotion, Pawol talked about getting the news during a Wednesday conference call with director of umpire development Rich Rieker and vice president of umpire operations Matt McKendry.
—Ronald Blum, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
Unmoored from tradition and offering only vague, impressionistic lyrics, Granli’s quavering performances on Rosacea become Rorschach tests, ripe for free association with whatever images your psyche can dredge up.
—H.d. Angel, Pitchfork, 6 Feb. 2026
Verb
The governor, Tim Walz, defeated for the Vice Presidency, gets on TV, his voice quavering, saying the right things, speaking the truth, and advising courage.
—Literary Hub, 29 Jan. 2026
The combination of quavering flutes and solemn, unfamiliar corridors is disquieting.
—Hazlitt, 10 Dec. 2025
Funke, her voice quavering throughout, recounted the events of the previous night.
—Sasha Pezenik, ABC News, 5 Sep. 2025
Her voice quavering with emotion, Pawol talked about getting the news during a Wednesday conference call with director of umpire development Rich Rieker and vice president of umpire operations Matt McKendry.
—Ronald Blum, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quavering
Adjective
-
Zendaya and Domingo do great, resonant work, but even their empathetic portraits of suffering people can’t make this strange coda cohere.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
1 June 2026
-
The track, which is the resonant chime of the Sacred Bell of Great King Seongdeok, blends with the room's spatial stillness and imagery, setting the experience in motion.—
Laura Sirikul,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
Verb
-
Rock Harbor to Daisy Farm Campground This trail almost entirely follows the coast for 7 miles, with a soundtrack of lapping waves, trilling loons, and the occasional outboard motor.—
Robert Annis,
Midwest Living,
7 June 2026
-
In a now-viral clip, Carpenter overheard someone from the crowd trilling during her set for Weekend 1 and asked if the audience member was yodeling.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
11 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The pacing is erratic and the sonorous voice-over narration doesn’t help either.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
13 May 2026
-
Metals are particularly sonorous, as anyone who has been around toddlers (and pots and pans) can testify.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
2 May 2026
Adjective
-
Nine’s creaking, warbling cadence makes for a Thug/Carti hybrid that’s distinct but still close enough to be familiar and palatable.—
Olivier Lafontant,
Pitchfork,
16 Apr. 2026
-
The song may be six minutes long, but the circuitous lope of his acoustic-guitar strum and low throb of his warbling feel eternal, like the type of tune Sisyphus might have hummed to keep himself company.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
2 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
There has never quite been a critical or scholarly consensus about them, but Bellini, whose music is suspended somewhere between Rossini’s precise brilliance and Donizetti’s rhetorical force, can move audiences with his melodic facility.—
Arya Roshanian,
The New York Review of Books,
6 June 2026
-
Where most conversations are half-silent, important figures in Rimbaud’s life are embodied by musical instruments, ranging from overbearing tubas to melodic strings, depending on who’s speaking and their place in the story.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
2 June 2026
Adjective
-
The dulcet tones of that thick Irish accent are perfectly intelligible over the phone, THR puts to him.—
Lily Ford,
HollywoodReporter,
13 May 2026
-
Wishing you a week of dulcet tones, giddy resistance, and a thousand pancakes.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
That approach helps give the record its unusually loose rhythmic feel.—
Philip Sherburne,
Pitchfork,
4 June 2026
-
For Ginsberg, ever-attuned to the rhythmic physicality of verse, the central atom of poetry wasn’t the line or the foot, but rather the breath, emphasizing that his were longer than his free verse hero Whitman because the good, grey poet probably had smaller lungs.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 June 2026
Adjective
-
Instead the result is very wearable, playful, fantastic apparel, pieces built with strength to them that is incredibly appealing.—
Rachel Elspeth Gross,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2026
-
As luxury linen has moved into the mainstream to become one of the softest bedding options, a major bonus is that a far more appealing range of price points and color options are now dominating the market.—
Nashia Baker,
Architectural Digest,
6 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Quavering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quavering. Accessed 10 Jun. 2026.
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