shivery

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English shiver

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Germanic *-gaz

Proto-West Germanic *-g

Old English -iġ

Middle English -y

English -y

English shivery

From shiver + -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃɪvəɹi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪvəɹi

Adjective

shivery (comparative shiverier, superlative shiveriest)

1. Given to shivering; tending to shiver.

   The cold night made me all shivery.

   • 1878 June, R[ichard] J[efferies], “The Man Himself—His House, and Tools”, in The Gamekeeper at Home: Sketches of Natural History and Rural Life, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 2:

     Within are the ferret hutches, warm and dry; for the ferret is a shivery creature, and likes nothing so well as to nozzle down in a coat-pocket with a little hay.

2. (archaic) Easily broken; brittle, flaky.

Derived terms

• shiveriness

Further reading

• “shivery”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.