tremulous

comparative more tremulous · superlative most tremulous

1. Trembling, quivering, or shaking.

   The trying nature of his position drove the blood from his cheek, and made his lips tremulous.

   1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Recognition”, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, page 79

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   Tremulous on the bladed graſs ſhone bright the pearly drops, like an aſſembly of ſparkling ſtars dancing on the plains of the zodiac; vocal was every bending ſpray, every reed was inſpired, each warbling throat ſeemed to emulate the melodious voice of the bird of a thouſand ſongs.

   1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson [et al.], page iv

   From the high tree the blossom wavering fell, / And over them the tremulous isles of light / Slided, they moving under shade: […]

   1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Part VI”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 124

   […] Lord Henry Wotton could just catch the gleam of the honey-sweet and honey-coloured blossoms of a laburnum, whose tremulous branches seemed hardly able to bear the burden of a beauty so flame-like as theirs[.]

   1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter I, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC, page 1

   Again she holds me by the hand, I must not go, / I see her close beside me with silent lips sad and tremulous.

   1892, Walt Whitman, “Children of Adam: Once I Pass’d Through a Populous City”, in Leaves of Grass […], Philadelphia, Pa.: David McKay, publisher, […], →OCLC, page 94

   “Thank God!” he cried brokenly, all the pent emotion of the long night vibrant in his tremulous voice.

   1919, William MacLeod Raine, chapter XXVII, in A Man Four-Square, Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, →OCLC, page 225

   Synonyms: quaking, shivering, shaky, trembly, tremulant

2. Timid, hesitant; lacking confidence.

   This, hard on the heels of the death of Julia Child in 2004, makes one tremulous about the future.

   2009 October 7, Christopher Kimball, “Opinion: Gourmet to All That”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 Apr 2023

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   In the mean time I worked on, and my labour was already considerably advanced. I looked towards its completion with a tremulous and eager hope, which I dared not trust myself to question, but which was intermixed with obscure forebodings of evil, that made my heart sicken in my bosom.

   1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter II, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume III, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 39

   “You have lived here long?” Felix asked, with tremulous interest, as he took a seat on the bench under the big tree, towards which his new host politely motioned him.

   1891, Grant Allen, chapter XV, in The Great Taboo, New York: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 132

   Synonyms: fearful, timorous, wavering