dither
/ˈdɪðɚ/verb, noun
dither is spelled D-I-T-H-E-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 83,271st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, dither means “To tremble, shake, or shiver” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in dither?
| Letters | 6: D-I-T-H-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 8 million words; the 83,271st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is dither?
Dither appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 83,271st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce dither?
- UK /ˈdɪðə/
- US /ˈdɪðɚ/
Dither has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-dither.wav, En-us-dither.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with dither?
4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as dither from its last stressed vowel (/ɪðəɹ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of dither
- dithers present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- dithering participle, present
- dithered participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dither mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To tremble, shake, or shiver.
- 2
To be uncertain or unable to make a decision; to vacillate, hesitate, or delay.
- 3
To do something nervously.
- 4
To use dot patterns in an image or graphic to simulate colors or shades not in the system palette.
- 5
To intentionally add noise to a signal to remove artifacts caused by digitization.
noun
- 1
Trembling, shaking, or shivering.
- 2
A state of nervous excitement.
- 3
The state of being undecided; indecision; vacillation.
- 4
A form of noise intentionally added to remove artifacts caused by digitization.
- 5
The use of dot patterns in an image or graphic to approximate colors not available in the system palette.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dither in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | zittern , zögern |
| French | être indécis, être incertain , tramage |
| Portuguese | estar indeciso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does dither come from?
Variant of didder, from Middle English dideren (“to tremble”). Compare Middle English bididren, bididdren (“to seduce, deceive”), from Old English bedidrian, bedyderian (“to deceive, trick”). Alternatively, perhaps with expressive voicing from *titeren, from Proto-Germanic *titrōną. If so, then a doublet of teeter and cognate with Old High German zittarōn (German zittern) and Old Norse titra (Faroese titra, Icelandic titra). Alternatively an unrelated reduplicative onomatopoeia.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).