quivering

American  

[kwiv-uh-ring] / ˈkwɪv ə rɪŋ /

adjective

1. trembling or shaking with a slight, rapid motion, or seeming to tremble or shake.

   The sun climbed higher and movement ceased: over the whole summit, figures lay still in the quivering heat.

   Forty hertz is really fast, like the quivering light from a faulty fluorescent bulb.

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noun

1. an act or instance of shaking with a slight but rapid motion.

   The quivering in the heart upsets the normal rhythm between the atria and the lower parts of the heart, the ventricles.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unquivering
  adjective
• quiveringly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of quivering

First recorded in 1530–40; quiver ¹ ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective; quiver ¹ ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun

Explanation

Quivering means trembling. If your dog begins quivering with fear whenever someone knocks on your door, he's not much use as a guard dog. When something's shaking gently, like a candle flame shivering slightly in a breeze, you can describe it as quivering. On a windy day, you might see the leaves of trees or the ruffled feathers of a bird quivering in the wind. There are a few theories about the origin of the word quivering including the possibility that the word quiver was developed onomatopoeically — or creating a word that sounds like its meaning, like a vibrating kind of shiver.

Example Sentences

Through evocative descriptions—the skylark’s trill “hovering in the quivering air,” or the sun rising over a “silvery, dew-thick cow meadow”—Ms. Haynes invites us to take part in the daily rhythms of our natural world.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

"Cathy and Heathcliff's passions vibrate through their dress, their surroundings, and everything else within reach, and you leave the cinema quivering on their own private frequency."

From BBC • Feb. 10, 2026

You will achieve nothing by quivering “B-b-but the price-to-earnings ratio!” as its stock continues to trade above this atmosphere.

From Slate • Jul. 8, 2025

Pull your achy body off the couch every day and work those quivering muscles, stretch those tight joints, perhaps join one of the many Parkinson’s programs in town that involve everything from dancing to hiking.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2025

And Bunnicula, too dazed to even think about food now, hovered quivering on the table.

From "Bunnicula" by Deborah Howe and James Howe

Related Words

• shaking
• shivering
• trembling