tremulous means trembling, quivering, or shaking. It carries an Arena rating of 1958, earned across 47 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, tremulous ranks #81 of 42,747 for Qualifying, #1,588 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #1,771 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #2,103 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words.
tremulous is pronounced /ˈtɹɛmjʊləs/.
Why “tremulous” is a great word
Characterized by trembling or shaking, either physically (as a voice or hand) or in a timid, hesitant manner. From the Latin tremulus ('trembling, shaking'), from tremere ('to tremble') + the adjectival suffix -ulus; entered English circa 1605–15. Unlike 'trembling' (which primarily denotes a physical quiver) or 'timid' (which suggests a general diffidence), tremulous couples the external sign with the internal cause, naming the exact moment the soul makes itself known to the body. It is the unmistakable vibrato of a cello note in a winter-chilled room, the fine shudder of a spider’s web just after the fly has struck it, or the candle flame wavering in a draft it cannot name—its power lies not in the motion itself, but in the silence that shakes beneath it.
Etymology
From Latin tremulus, from tremō (“to tremble, shake”) + -ulus. Doublet of tremor and tremble. By surface analysis, tremulate + -ous.
adj
- Trembling, quivering, or shaking.
- Timid, hesitant; lacking confidence.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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