Word.ws English Dictionary

tremulous

Syllables: trem·u·lousUK/ˈtɹɛmjʊləs//ˈtɹɛmjuləs/

tremulous adjective: trembling, quivering, or shaking.

Adjective

tremulous (comparative more tremulous, superlative most tremulous)

  1. Trembling, quivering, or shaking.
    • 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
  2. Timid, hesitant; lacking confidence.
    • 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...
    • “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

tremulous meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada

tremulous in Tamil

நடுங்குகின்ற, குலுங்குகின்ற

tremulous in Urdu

لرزاں, مرتعش

tremulous in Malayalam

tremulous, trembling, agitated
ചടുല caṭula, ചടുലം caṭulaṁ

tremulous in Kannada

ನಡುಗುವ, ಬೆದರುವ, ಹೇಡಿ
More languagesFewer languages
tremulous in Sanskrit
कम्प kampa
tremulous in Arabic
مرتجف murtajif, مترجفة murtajifa
tremulous in Persian
لرزان larzân

Examples of tremulous in a sentence

  • 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:
  • 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...
  • “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:
  • It made tremulous stripes along the scrubbed pine floor.1956, Delano Ames, chapter 12, in Crime out of Mind, New York: I[ves] Washburn:

Synonyms of tremulous

All synonyms of tremulous

Forms of tremulous

comparativemore tremulous
superlativemost tremulous

Origin of tremulous

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

Words formed from tremulous

Questions about tremulous

What does tremulous mean?
Tremulous means trembling, quivering, or shaking.
What is tremulous in Tamil?
Tremulous in Tamil is நடுங்குகின்ற, குலுங்குகின்ற. See Tremulous meaning in Tamil.
How do you use tremulous in a sentence?
The trying nature of his position drove the blood from his cheek, and made his lips tremulous.
What part of speech is tremulous?
Tremulous is an adjective.
How do you pronounce tremulous?
Tremulous is pronounced /ˈtɹɛmjʊləs/ (UK).

Words near tremulous in the dictionary

  1. tremulation
  2. tremulations
  3. tremulatory
  4. tremulent
  5. tremuloidin
  6. tremulous
  7. tremulously
  8. tremulousness
  9. tren
  10. tren goblin
  11. tren goblins

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tremulous (page history and authors); tremulous (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tremulous (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ചടുല (Malayalam) (page history and authors); tremulous (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); कम्प (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “tremulous.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tremulous. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.