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
-
The hallmarks of the Navy Blue sound are present—barely-there snares keeping time in the distance, string samples melting into reflective puddles, overtones from resonant piano lines.—
Dash Lewis,
Pitchfork,
10 June 2026
-
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
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
-
At Whitewater Draw Wildlife Refuge thousands of cranes huddle in shallow water, chattering to one another in a trilling birdcall that can be heard from far up the road.—
Sarah Henry,
AZCentral.com,
18 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
The country twang of her Nashville origins has been replaced with sonorous synths, and in the case of Showgirl, a throwback to the retro electric guitar sound of her bestselling 2014 album 1989.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
20 Oct. 2025
-
The work contains sonorous bouts of sorrow, but rage is its primary register.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
6 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
Bizzy, Wish, Layzie, Krayzie, and Flesh-N-Bone looked ahead to an uncertain new millennium, back upon the pain of losing mentor Eazy-E and loved ones from their lives back home, and decided to synthesize the effects of heartbreak into warbling melodies that would shake a congregation to its core.—
Pitchfork,
Pitchfork,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The 306-page book use solos by Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan, Miles Davis and other jazz immortals to provide melodic and rhythmic vocabularies for improvisation.—
George Varga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Nov. 2025
-
Its theme and melodic line have a retro, catchy quality, the kind that naturally evokes emotional resonance.—
Billboard China,
Billboard,
13 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Pálmason’s follow-up to his austere 19th-century drama Godland is a constantly surprising film with an immaculate sense of framing and pacing—and an evocative, dulcet piano score by Harry Hunt—dotted with idiosyncratic flights of fancy that never detract from the central emotional authenticity.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
5 Aug. 2025
-
Buffett and Harris keep that original energy while smoothing out some of the edges, most notably substituting the tender creak of the original song’s violin (played by Scarlet Rivera) for the dulcet plunk of the steelpan drum.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
13 Oct. 2023
Adjective
-
Mac Allister is one of those players that every team needs; a rhythmic, dependable workhorse.—
Nick Miller,
New York Times,
3 Dec. 2025
-
The 306-page book use solos by Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan, Miles Davis and other jazz immortals to provide melodic and rhythmic vocabularies for improvisation.—
George Varga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
The squared toe, decorative leather flower and dusty color blocking all carried the offbeat femininity that has made archival Prada footwear particularly appealing to vintage shoppers.—
Maggie Clancy,
Footwear News,
14 June 2026
-
Use scare tactics like predator decoys, reflective objects, or windsocks to make your patio less appealing for birds to perch.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
11 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Quavering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quavering. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
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