shudder
Americanverb (used without object)
-
shudders,
present (3rd person singular)
-
shuddered,
past participle, past
-
shuddering
present participle
noun
-
shudders
plural
verb
noun
Synonym Usage
See shiver 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
shuddersimple
-
shudderssimple
-
have shudderedperfect
-
has shudderedperfect
-
am shudderingprogressive
-
are shudderingprogressive
-
is shudderingprogressive
-
have been shudderingperfect progressive
-
has been shudderingperfect progressive
Past
-
shudderedsimple
-
had shudderedperfect
-
was shudderingprogressive
-
were shudderingprogressive
-
had been shudderingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shudder
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English shodderen (verb) (cognate with German schaudern, from Low German ), frequentative of Old English scūdan “to tremble”; see -er 6
Explanation
A shudder is an involuntary vibration, usually in your body, or the shaking itself. A cold breeze or an unpleasant memory might make you shudder. A shudder isn't always a bad thing. It can mean a pleasurable sensation or tingle that goes through your body, like a shudder of excitement you feel when you see your favorite star on the street. As a verb, shudder means to shake and shiver. Being really cold or seeing something that scares you — a ghost! — can make you shudder. The phrase "shudder to think" means just the thought of something upsets you enough to shudder.
Vocabulary lists containing shudder
The Lingo of Body Language
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 1
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Unit 4: Powerful Openings
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
An omen among omens: Mid-dog-walk that day, I spot a onesie that reads “Milk Drunk” and shudder at the impulse to recruit our newborns into low-key bacchanalia.
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
A 1970s-style outcome, or anything close to it, would have been enough to make anyone shudder — but especially retirees and others living on fixed or semi-fixed incomes.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 8, 2026
These revelations bring a shudder, naturally, but also complicate, or rather radically change, our interpretation of Laius’ death.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
The stern appearance of Wandsworth prison is enough to make grown people shudder.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2025
A damp breeze, carrying the smell of rain and fall’s decay, made him shudder.
From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn
Each song shudders with youthful cockiness and desperation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
Then, he satirizes conservatives’ discomfort with his Blackness by sitting silently as Martin Short, playing a nervous young Republican delivering a hackneyed diatribe, shudders in his presence before scampering offstage to fall apart.
From Salon ● Feb. 22, 2026
Shona Banu still shudders when she thinks of the past few days.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2025
Allied leaders will by and large keep their shudders under wraps.
From Slate ● Nov. 6, 2024
Every researcher I’ve mentioned that idea to shudders at the thought of it.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
Our Waymo shuddered to a stop, and we jumped out in the middle of the street.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
But when the piece was published, I shuddered at the headline: “Beyonce’s ‘Break My Soul’ just broke the internet and — hell yeah — is a Pride Month dance bop.”
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026
"Now I'm afraid of the river," he shuddered.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2025
It should have been a routine procedure but the command module, Odyssey, shuddered.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2025
The wall shuddered again, violently this time, cracks jutting out from the main breaks until the entire wall of ice was riddled with fractures.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
In 2008, the shuddering global economy and soaring fuel prices helped push several airlines into bankruptcy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026
“They think we’re these evil business owners,” she said, shuddering.
From Slate ● Mar. 25, 2026
Stunned captain Alyssa Healy says Australia let themselves down after their reign as one-day world champions was brought to a shuddering halt by hosts India.
From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2025
It is some compensation for Jonbon, who finished second, after a shuddering mistake, when odds-on favourite for the Champion Chase at Cheltenham Festival last month.
From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2025
One or two of the sleeping children muttered or whimpered in their sleep as he passed, and the nun in the bed at the end gave a soft shuddering snore and turned over.
From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
