shudder
shud·der/ˈʃʌdə/verb, noun
shudder is spelled S-H-U-D-D-E-R: 7 letters and 2 syllables (shud·der). It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,070th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “shudder vs shutter” about 880 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, shudder means “To shake nervously, often from fear or horror” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in shudder?
| Letters | 7: S-H-U-D-D-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: shud·der |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words; the 25,070th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is shudder?
Shudder appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,070th 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 shudder?
- UK /ˈʃʌdə/
- /ˈʃʊdə/
- /ˈʃədə/
Shudder has 2 syllables, split shud·der in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-shudder.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with shudder
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of shudder
- shudders present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- shuddering participle, present
- shuddered participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does shudder mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To shake nervously, often from fear or horror.
On seeing the spider under his pillow, John shuddered.
- 2
To vibrate jerkily.
noun
- 1
A shivering tremor, often from fear or horror.
Seeing the spider under his pillow gave John a shudder.
- 2
A moment of almost pleasurable fear; a frisson.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Shudder in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | frissonner, trembler , tremblement, frisson |
| German | schaudern , Schauder , zittern , (wohliger) Schauder |
| Portuguese | tremer, tiritar , arrepio, calafrio |
| Spanish | temblar , escalofrío |
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 shudder come from?
From Middle English schoderen, schuderen, possibly from Middle Dutch schudderen and/or Middle Low German schodderen, iterative forms of the verb at hand in Dutch schudden, Low German schüdden (both “to shake”), German schütten (“to pour”), from Proto-West Germanic *skuddjan, from Proto-Germanic *skudjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *skewdʰ-. From Low German are also borrowed German schaudern (“to shudder”), Danish skudre, Swedish skudda.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).