QUIVERING Synonyms: 73 Similar and Opposite Words

quivering 1 of 3

adjective

as in trembling

marked by or given to small uncontrollable bodily movements our quivering dog tried to hide under the bed during the thunderstorm

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

quivering

2 of 3

noun

as in twitching

a series of slight movements by a body back and forth or from side to side the kids were fascinated by the quivering of the jellyfish and kept poking it to see it wiggle

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quivering

3 of 3

verb

present participle of quiver

as in shaking

to make a series of small irregular or violent movements aspen leaves quivering in the breeze

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of quivering

Noun

The horror has come now like a storm— what if this night prefigured the night after death— what if all thereafter was an eternal quivering on the edge of an abyss, with everything base and vicious in oneself urging one forward and the baseness and viciousness of the world just ahead. — Literary Hub, 3 Mar. 2026 The old dog slowed to a stop, nose full of bird stink, feathery tail quivering. — Joel M. Vance, Outdoor Life, 29 Oct. 2025

Verb

But each of its eight-and-a-half minutes introduces a subtle mutation, rotating buzzing electronics and quivering guitars into the spotlight. — Arman Khan, Pitchfork, 4 Aug. 2026 Located on the street level of the Harbor Boulevard complex, the new shop gives dessert-loving denizens another place to pick up the quivering treat. — Brock Keeling, Oc Register, 26 May 2026 Johnston plays poor Bear as a quivering mess wracked with guilt that this monster — who used to be his friend — is the result of his own terrible decision-making. — Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 23 May 2026 Maggie could see how the soles of her feet strained against the stirrups, her pale fists grinding into the platform, knuckles first and elbows quivering. — Literary Hub, 8 May 2026 In the 1970s, James Lovelock proposed that the biosphere was not just green scruff quivering on Earth's surface. — Big Think, 23 Apr. 2026 Few things shake the confidence of a person like crawling to the top bunk of a quivering bed frame, your feet wrapping uncomfortably along the frail metal rungs of the ladder. — Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 27 Jan. 2026 Danes is a four-time Golden Globe winner who brought her quivering lower lip to bear on the role of an author who thinks her next-door neighbor killed his wife. — Nate Jones, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2026 For Lusti, the highwire act has less to do with skiing over exposure that would turn the rest of us into quivering piles of jello and more to do with learning when her time outdoors stops being a refuge and starts being a hiding place. — Outside Online, 10 Dec. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for quivering

Adjective

Standing 10 yards in front of us on a corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue was a shivering elderly woman who looked lost.

— Richard Greenberg, Los Angeles Times, 6 Feb. 2026
What she’s produced is a searching, pointedly disorienting text, studded with passages of extreme beauty and generous humor, that wears whimsy like a shivering veil over consuming discomfort, even terror.

— Paul McAdory, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2025

Definition of shivering

Noun

Betelgeuse and the Pleiades hung—one billowing, one trembling—out of sight somewhere past the window frame.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 19 Aug. 2026
When the trembling decreased, the 27-year-old mother took the stairs seven stories down with her young child in her arms and evacuated the building.

— Nicole Acevedo, NBC news, 10 Aug. 2026

Definition of trembling

Verb

That afternoon, the president, inside the exposition’s ornate Temple of Music, greeted members of the public, shaking hands and warmly inviting them to explore the fair.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Aug. 2026
The handcuffs were taken off, and he was allowed to board, shaking with shock.

— Shimon Prokupecz, CNN Money, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of shaking

Adjective

But if instead its excess savings finance unproductive investment at home or drive high household consumption, asset bubbles, or persistent fiscal deficits in the economies of its trading partners, the whole system becomes increasingly shaky.

— MICHAEL PETTIS, Foreign Affairs, 28 Aug. 2026
Cowing is clearly the team’s best option at punt returner, while Watkins has been shaky there during practice.

— Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of shaky

Verb

There’s the studio version, which has some really interesting production, with Meg’s shuddering percussion that eventually grates and distracts, and Jack’s very chunky guitar.

— Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 25 Aug. 2026
These seemingly innocuous incidents attain new significance as they’re revisited alongside a slow crescendo that suddenly turns to shuddering piano chords on the track’s bridge.

— Nick Ayres DeMasi, Pitchfork, 1 July 2026

Definition of shuddering

Noun

Surprising Fact The National Gallery of Art, which is located on Constitution Avenue and nearby Pennsylvania Avenue, boarded up some of its outdoor sculptures after conducting a vibration study for the race, according to NPR.

— Antonio Pequeño IV, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2026
Some art experts have expressed concern that vibrations from the track construction and race itself could damage the artifacts inside.

— Rachel Treisman, NPR, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of vibration

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“Quivering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quivering. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of quivering

adjective

noun

verb

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