tremble

trem·ble
T1R1E1M3B3L1E1
/ˈtɹɛmbl̩/

verb

To shake, quiver, or vibrate.

“Her lip started to tremble as she burst into tears”

Similar
quailshivershake
OriginMiddle English tremblen ← Old French trembler ← Late Latin tremulāre →
Less commonScrabble 11
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

tremble1

verbtremble (third-person singular simple present trembles, present participle trembling, simple past and past participle trembled)

present singular third person trembles · participle present trembling · participle past trembled · past trembled

  1. intransitiveTo shake, quiver, or vibrate.

    Her lip started to tremble as she burst into tears

    2 more examples

    The dog was trembling from being in the cold weather all day.

    Mr. Cooke at once began a tirade against the residents of Asquith for permitting a sandy and generally disgraceful condition of the roads. So roundly did he vituperate the inn management in particular, and with such a loud flow of words, that I trembled lest he should be heard on the veranda.

    1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
  2. figurativelyintransitiveTo fear; to be afraid.

    Thou beleeuest that there is one God, thou doest well: the deuils also beleeue, and tremble.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, James 2:19

    Synonyms: quail

nountremble (plural trembles)

plural trembles

  1. A shake, quiver, or vibration.

Tremble2

proper nounTremble (plural Trembles)

plural Trembles

  1. A surname.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo fear; to be afraid.

Similar
quail

More synonyms by meaning

nouna reflex motion caused by cold or fear or excitement

Similar
shivershake
Broader
reflexreflex responsereflex action
Also see
palpitatequivershagshakeshiverwobble

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latintremere“quiver, shake”
  2. Late Latintremulāre
  3. Old Frenchtrembler
  4. Middle Englishtremblen
  5. Englishtremble

From Middle English tremblen, from Old French trembler, from Late Latin tremulāre, ultimately from Latin tremere (“quiver, shake”). Cognate with Ancient Greek τρέμω (trémō).

More words from Middle English, Old French, Late Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek τρέμω
  • τρέμω (trémō)to shake
Arabic اِخْتَلَجَ, اِرْتَجَفَ
  • اِخْتَلَجَ (iḵtalaja)to shake
  • اِرْتَجَفَ (irtajafa)to shake
  • رَجْفَة (rajfa)a shake
Bulgarian треперя, трептя
  • треперя (treperja)to shake
  • трептя (treptja)to shake
  • тръпна (trăpna)to be afraid
  • опасявам се (opasjavam se)to be afraid
  • треперене (treperene)a shake
  • трепет (trepet)a shake
Catalan tremolar, tremolor
  • tremolarto shake
  • tremolora shake
Chinese Mandarin 哆嗦, 顫抖 /颤抖
  • 哆嗦 (duōsuo)to shake
  • 顫抖 /颤抖 (chàndǒu or zhàndǒu)to shake
  • 發抖 /发抖 (fādǒu)to shake
  • 顫慄 /颤栗 (zhànlì)to shake
  • 震顫 /震颤 (zhènchàn)to shake
  • 哆嗦 (duōsuo)a shake
  • 顫抖 /颤抖 (chàndǒu or zhàndǒu)a shake
  • 發抖 /发抖 (fādǒu)a shake
  • 顫慄 /颤栗 (zhànlì)a shake
  • 震顫 /震颤 (zhènchàn)a shake
Czech třást se, chvět se
  • třást seto shake
  • chvět seto shake
Dutch beven
  • bevento shake
Esperanto tremi
  • tremito shake
Finnish täristä, väristä
  • täristäto shake
  • väristäto shake
  • värinäa shake
French trembler, vibrer
  • tremblerto shake
  • vibrerto shake
  • tremblerto be afraid
  • tremblementa shake
  • vibrationa shake
German zittern, Zittern
  • zitternto shake
  • Zitterna shake
Greek τρέμω
  • τρέμω (trémo)to shake
Hindi काँपना
  • काँपना (kā̃pnā)to shake
Hungarian reszket, remeg
  • reszketto shake
  • remegto shake
Irish creath, creathnaigh
  • creathto shake
  • creathnaighto shake
Italian tremare, tremolare
  • tremareto shake
  • tremolareto shake
  • tremorea shake
Japanese 震える, 震え
  • 震える (furueru)to shake
  • 震え (furue)a shake
Korean 떨다
  • 떨다 (tteolda)to shake
Latin tremō
  • tremōto shake
Latvian trīcēt
  • trīcētto shake
Māori rūrūtaina, ngāueue
  • rūrūtainato shake
  • ngāueueto shake
  • kūnāwirito shake
  • whakaruerueto shake
  • rūrūtainato be afraid
  • korohāwinia shake
Norwegian Bokmål skjelve, dirre
  • skjelveto shake
  • dirreto shake
  • frykteto be afraid
Persian لرزیدن
  • لرزیدن (larzidan)to shake
Polish drżeć
  • drżećto shake
Portuguese tremer, agitar vigorosamente
  • tremerto shake
  • agitar vigorosamenteto shake
  • tremora shake
Romanian tremura
  • tremurato shake
Russian дрожа́ть, трясти́сь
  • дрожа́ть (drožátʹ)to shake
  • трясти́сь (trjastísʹ)to shake
  • трепета́ть (trepetátʹ)to shake
  • дрожь (drožʹ)a shake
  • дрожа́ние (drožánije)a shake
Slovak triasť sa, chvieť sa
  • triasť sato shake
  • chvieť sato shake
Spanish temblar, sacudir
  • temblarto shake
  • sacudirto shake
  • tiritarto shake
  • titiritarto shake
  • rilarto shake
  • temblora shake
  • temblequeraa shake
Swedish darra
  • darrato shake
Tamil நடுங்கு
  • நடுங்கு (naṭuṅku)to shake
Thai สั่น
  • สั่น (sàn)to shake
Turkish titremek, ürpermek
  • titremekto shake
  • ürpermekto shake
Ukrainian тремті́ти, труси́тися
  • тремті́ти (tremtíty)to shake
  • труси́тися (trusýtysja)to shake
Urdu کانپنا
  • کانپنا (kā̃pnā)to shake
Vietnamese run, rung
  • runto shake
  • rungto shake
Welsh crynu
  • crynuto shake
Yiddish ציטערן, ציטער
  • ציטערן (tsitern)to shake
  • ציטער (tsiter)a shake
Cite this entry
APA

tremble. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tremble

MLA

“tremble.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tremble. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tremble,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tremble.

Source: tremble on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.