as in trembling
marked by or given to small uncontrollable bodily movements
our quivering dog tried to hide under the bed during the thunderstorm
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in twitching
a series of slight movements by a body back and forth or from side to side
the kids were fascinated by the quivering of the jellyfish and kept poking it to see it wiggle
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in shaking
to make a series of small irregular or violent movements
aspen leaves quivering in the breeze
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of quivering
Literary Hub, 3 Mar. 2026
The old dog slowed to a stop, nose full of bird stink, feathery tail quivering.
—Joel M. Vance, Outdoor Life, 29 Oct. 2025
Brock Keeling, Oc Register, 26 May 2026
Johnston plays poor Bear as a quivering mess wracked with guilt that this monster — who used to be his friend — is the result of his own terrible decision-making.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 23 May 2026
Maggie could see how the soles of her feet strained against the stirrups, her pale fists grinding into the platform, knuckles first and elbows quivering.
—Literary Hub, 8 May 2026
In the 1970s, James Lovelock proposed that the biosphere was not just green scruff quivering on Earth's surface.
—Big Think, 23 Apr. 2026
The mesmerizing evolution reaches its peak when a quivering guitar solo jettisons into view.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 26 Feb. 2026
Few things shake the confidence of a person like crawling to the top bunk of a quivering bed frame, your feet wrapping uncomfortably along the frail metal rungs of the ladder.
—Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 27 Jan. 2026
Danes is a four-time Golden Globe winner who brought her quivering lower lip to bear on the role of an author who thinks her next-door neighbor killed his wife.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2026
For Lusti, the highwire act has less to do with skiing over exposure that would turn the rest of us into quivering piles of jello and more to do with learning when her time outdoors stops being a refuge and starts being a hiding place.
—Outside Online, 10 Dec. 2025
Noun
The horror has come now like a storm— what if this night prefigured the night after death— what if all thereafter was an eternal quivering on the edge of an abyss, with everything base and vicious in oneself urging one forward and the baseness and viciousness of the world just ahead.
—Literary Hub, 3 Mar. 2026
The old dog slowed to a stop, nose full of bird stink, feathery tail quivering.
—Joel M. Vance, Outdoor Life, 29 Oct. 2025
Verb
Located on the street level of the Harbor Boulevard complex, the new shop gives dessert-loving denizens another place to pick up the quivering treat.
—Brock Keeling, Oc Register, 26 May 2026
Johnston plays poor Bear as a quivering mess wracked with guilt that this monster — who used to be his friend — is the result of his own terrible decision-making.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 23 May 2026
Maggie could see how the soles of her feet strained against the stirrups, her pale fists grinding into the platform, knuckles first and elbows quivering.
—Literary Hub, 8 May 2026
In the 1970s, James Lovelock proposed that the biosphere was not just green scruff quivering on Earth's surface.
—Big Think, 23 Apr. 2026
The mesmerizing evolution reaches its peak when a quivering guitar solo jettisons into view.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 26 Feb. 2026
Few things shake the confidence of a person like crawling to the top bunk of a quivering bed frame, your feet wrapping uncomfortably along the frail metal rungs of the ladder.
—Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 27 Jan. 2026
Danes is a four-time Golden Globe winner who brought her quivering lower lip to bear on the role of an author who thinks her next-door neighbor killed his wife.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2026
For Lusti, the highwire act has less to do with skiing over exposure that would turn the rest of us into quivering piles of jello and more to do with learning when her time outdoors stops being a refuge and starts being a hiding place.
—Outside Online, 10 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quivering
Noun
-
All the trembling, as Kimbangu touched the sick, alarmed European settlers and reassured the plantation workers who trekked to Nkamba in search of healing.—
Rodney Muhumuza,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
-
At first this change of scale vivifies the butterfly—its brief stillness, the angle of its wings, its trembling—while freezing everything else, including the novel’s action.—
Ben Lerner,
The New York Review of Books,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
With Arena Monterrey shaking, El Grande II hit a flying clothesline for a nearfall.—
Alfred Konuwa,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
-
YouTubers in their 20s are shaking things up in Hollywood.—
Brendan Morrow,
USA Today,
31 May 2026
Adjective
-
That week’s host, Emily Blunt, did the trembly voice-over.—
Michael Schulman,
The New Yorker,
21 Dec. 2020
Noun
-
Casting near banks and using a twitching technique can increase success during the hatch.—
Dac Collins,
Outdoor Life,
14 May 2026
-
During this phase, octopuses display visible twitching along with rapid changes in skin color and texture, per NPR.—
Samantha Agate,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
That brewery is taking over Headflyer's space after closing its own Nordeast taproom in 2023, then shuddering entirely last year before rising from the ashes months later.—
Anthony Bettin,
CBS News,
14 May 2026
-
The world itself is shuddering on some of these economic blows.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
3 May 2026
Adjective
-
Standing 10 yards in front of us on a corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue was a shivering elderly woman who looked lost.—
Richard Greenberg,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
-
What she’s produced is a searching, pointedly disorienting text, studded with passages of extreme beauty and generous humor, that wears whimsy like a shivering veil over consuming discomfort, even terror.—
Paul McAdory,
Vulture,
22 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The main threat is vibrations, but with the help of vibration expert Kerstin Kracht, those have been reduced by 96 percent, says the report, to the same level a sculpture experiences on a plinth in a museum as visitors walk by.—
Brian Boucher,
ARTnews.com,
4 June 2026
-
According to Mayer’s account, sounds passed from the top of the machine through tubes that carried the vibrations up through the arms of the two figures and into their mouths, producing distinct male and female voices.—
Ron Cowen,
Scientific American,
3 June 2026
Verb
-
According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of seizures can include short-term confusion, staring spells, stiff muscles and jerking movements of the arms and legs.—
Jordan Greene,
PEOPLE,
15 May 2026
-
Avoid jerking the floss or aggressive movements; instead, use smooth, gentle motions.—
Sherri Gordon,
Health,
12 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Quivering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quivering. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
