trembling

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈtrɛmblɪŋ/ UK /ˈtrɛmblɪŋ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
shaking involuntarily, as from cold, fear, or weakness

With trembling hands she opened the long-awaited letter.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · shaking involuntarily, as... shaking quiveringshudderingquaking shivering trembly

Opposites

steady still calm

Word family

Forms tremblingly

Related forms tremble tremor tremulous tremendous

Etymology

From tremble (from Old French trembler, from Vulgar Latin *tremulare, from Latin tremulus 'trembling', from tremere 'to shake, quake') + the suffix -ing.

tremulare Latin tremere Latin *trem- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# trembling

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈtrɛmblɪŋ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈtrɛmblɪŋ/

## Meanings
1. shaking involuntarily, as from cold, fear, or weakness

## Examples
- With trembling hands she opened the long-awaited letter.

## Synonyms
- shaking
- quivering
- shuddering
- quaking
- shivering
- trembly

## Antonyms
- steady
- still
- calm

## Related Forms
- tremble
- tremor
- tremulous
- tremendous

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: tremulare
- Root: tremere
- Root: *trem-

## Etymology
From tremble (from Old French trembler, from Vulgar Latin *tremulare, from Latin tremulus 'trembling', from tremere 'to shake, quake') + the suffix -ing.

## AI Etymology
Trembling is from tremble (from Old French trembler, from Vulgar Latin *tremulare, from Latin tremulus 'trembling', from tremere 'to shake, quake') + the suffix -ing. Important recorded forms include tremulare (Latin), tremere (Latin), and *trem- (Proto-Indo-European). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense continues the older lexical line without requiring a separate origin. In current use it covers shaking involuntarily, as from cold, fear, or weakness. The wider family includes related words such as tremble, tremor, tremulous, and tremendous.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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