: such as is or might be caused by nervousness or shakiness
a tremulous smile
4
: exceedingly sensitive : easily shaken or disordered
tremulouslyadverb
tremulousnessnoun
Did you know?
Are you shaky on the meaning of tremulous?
Do you suspect that tremulous must be closely related to tremble? If so, you're right. Both of those words derive from the Latin verb tremere, which means "to tremble." Some other English offspring of tremere are tremor,tremendous,temblor (another word for earthquake), and tremolo (a term that describes a vibrating and quavering musical effect that was particularly popular for electric guitars and organs in the 1970s).
She opened the letter with tremulous hands. He spoke with a tremulous voice.
Recent Examples on the WebWith it, O’Farrell demonstrates fiction’s ability to offer counter narratives to those of received history, to open before us imaginative abundance and a tremulous sense of possibility. Priscilla Gilman, BostonGlobe.com, 1 Sep. 2022 His voice trips between tremulous Christensen and baritone Jones. Darren Franich, EW.com, 22 June 2022 And Minnelli is clearly aware of the force of her performance, creating long takes that serve as a sort of proscenium as well as urgent closeups that burst with her tremulous power. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 10 June 2022 In high, tremulous voices, the Sisters of the Holy Family were chanting their midday prayers when a child’s gleeful shout echoed from a nearby corridor, punctuating the solemn incantation.Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2022 Garnish as one desires, perhaps with a juicy blackberry or a hothouse flower, something dewy and tremulous, to be sure. Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 31 Mar. 2022 Ronnie Spector, whose hard-edged yet tremulous voice soared on the Ronettes’ girl-group hits of the early ‘60s, died on Wednesday of cancer. Chris Morris, Variety, 12 Jan. 2022 Willingham’s tremulous narrative voice might have some readers reaching for a calming agent, too, but her denouement is both surprising and plausible.Washington Post, 6 Jan. 2022 The continuing, tremulous nodding of her head registers as a direct consequence of having worked too hard and too long to be a reassuring wife.New York Times, 3 Aug. 2021 See More