quivering
quiv·er·ing/ˈkwɪvəɹɪŋ/adjective, noun, verb
quivering is an adjective meaning “shaking, shivering” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled Q-U-I-V-E-R-I-N-G and has 3 syllables (quiv·er·ing), and it appears about once in every 2 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does quivering mean?
adjective
- 1
shaking, shivering
The quivering mass of jello rocked back and forth incessantly but remained on the plate.
noun
- 1
A motion by which something quivers or trembles.
quiverings of the eyelid
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of quiver
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce quivering?
- /ˈkwɪvəɹɪŋ/
Quivering has 3 syllables, split quiv·er·ing in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-quivering.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of quivering
- quiverings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is quivering?
Quivering appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 39,832nd 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).
Quivering in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense shaking, shivering:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | tiritón |
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.