TREMBLING Synonyms: 56 Similar and Opposite Words

trembling 1 of 3

adjective

as in shaking

marked by or given to small uncontrollable bodily movements trembling from the cold

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

trembling

2 of 3

noun

as in twitching

a series of slight movements by a body back and forth or from side to side at the first sign of the room's trembling, I ducked for cover, for I was certain that it was the start of the big quake

Synonyms & Similar Words

trembling

3 of 3

verb

present participle of tremble

as in quivering

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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 trembling

Noun

Across campus, students raised trembling voices, burst into applause, and brushed away tears. — Jeannine Chiang, Washington Post, 9 Oct. 2026 Betelgeuse and the Pleiades hung—one billowing, one trembling—out of sight somewhere past the window frame. — Literary Hub, 19 Aug. 2026 When the trembling decreased, the 27-year-old mother took the stairs seven stories down with her young child in her arms and evacuated the building. — Nicole Acevedo, NBC news, 10 Aug. 2026 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 Its strength ranges from mild, causing little more discomfort than a slight trembling, to severe, in which passengers or flight crew can be thrown around the cabin and risk injury if not wearing seatbelts. — Cat Rainsford, Popular Science, 15 Jan. 2026 There’s Walter’s serene cello and Marjorie’s pensive, slightly coy violin, sometimes playful or petulant or, still, a little vain and secretive — other times thin and trembling, lost in the haze of dementia. — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 9 Dec. 2025 Olsen plays Joan’s indecision with winsome fluster, at first breathy and trembling but eventually finding her resolve. — Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for trembling

Adjective

McCord won’t have much help in the form of experienced wide receivers or tight ends, and his pass protection will probably be shaky.

— Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 11 Nov. 2026
With shaky quarterback play, expect the Wildcats to lean on their duo.

— Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 Nov. 2026

Definition of shaky

Verb

And as Ternus thumbs through the $1,999-and-up phone, attempting to drag a photo into a text-message box, eagle-eyed viewers notice his hands quivering.

— Andrew R. Chow, Time, 15 Oct. 2026
As Jay tries to avoid getting crushed by the whale’s stomach in one quivering chamber or dissolved by acid in the next, Abrams comes up with reactions that feel as plausible as possible in a situation that’s totally unimaginable.

— Alison Willmore, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of quivering

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

Definition of shivering

Noun

About a minute later, Guardado began breathing heavily, followed by some sputtering and twitching.

— KIM CHANDLER, Arkansas Online, 6 Nov. 2026
About a minute into the injection, Guardado began breathing heavily, followed by some sputtering and twitching that lasted about another minute.

— David Fischer, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 Nov. 2026

Definition of twitching

Noun

For example, a digital twin of an industrial pump could use vibration and temperature readings to detect changes that indicate developing mechanical problems.

— Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 8 Nov. 2026
In my experience, degraded fluid can sometimes cause clutch chatter, vibration, or a humming noise.

— John Paul Senior Manager Public Affairs And Traffic Safety Aaa Northeast, Hartford Courant, 7 Nov. 2026

Definition of vibration

Noun

The director again shows his action smarts by creating a brief lull — albeit while leaning hard on one of the more sudsy passages of composer Fernando Velázquez’s generic score — before the next shuddering impact sends the number of casualties skyrocketing.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 28 Apr. 2026
Fellow clubgoers splashed cold water on his face in an attempt to stop the shuddering.

— Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 31 Oct. 2025

Definition of shuddering

Browse Nearby Words

trembles

trembling

trembly

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“Trembling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trembling. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of trembling

adjective

noun

verb

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