tremulous

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English[edit]

WOTD – 17 November 2006

Etymology[edit]

From Latin tremulus, from tremō (“I tremble, shake”) + -ulus.[1] Doublet of tremor and tremble. By surface analysis, tremulate +‎ -ous.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

tremulous (comparative more tremulous, superlative most tremulous)

  1. Trembling, quivering, or shaking.
    Synonyms: quaking, shivering, shaky, trembly, tremulant
    • 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:
      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.
    • 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Recognition”, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, page 79:
      The trying nature of his position drove the blood from his cheek, and made his lips tremulous.
    • 1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter I, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London, New York, N.Y., Melbourne, Vic.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC, page 1:
      […] 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[.]
    • 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:
      Again she holds me by the hand, I must not go, / I see her close beside me with silent lips sad and tremulous.
    • 1919, William MacLeod Raine, chapter XXVII, in A Man Four-Square, Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, →OCLC, page 225:
      “Thank God!” he cried brokenly, all the pent emotion of the long night vibrant in his tremulous voice.
    • 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 12, in Crime out of Mind, New York: I[ves] Washburn:
      Light filtered in through the blinds of the french windows. It made tremulous stripes along the scrubbed pine floor.
  2. Timid, hesitant; lacking confidence.
    Synonyms: fearful, timorous, wavering
    • 1818, [Mary Shelley], chapter II, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume III, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, →OCLC, page 39:
      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.
    • 1891, Grant Allen, chapter XV, in The Great Taboo, New York: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 132:
      “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.
    • 2009 October 7, Christopher Kimball, “Opinion: Gourmet to All That”, in The New York Times‎[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-27:
      This, hard on the heels of the death of Julia Child in 2004, makes one tremulous about the future.

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *trem-‎ (0 c, 23 e)

Translations[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ “tremulous, adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Further reading[edit]

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