as in shaking
marked by or given to small uncontrollable bodily movements
with a shuddering extension of his hand, the poor beggar asked for a little charity
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in trembling
a series of slight movements by a body back and forth or from side to side
tried to control the shuddering of his hand
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in jerking
to make a series of small irregular or violent movements
huddled in the basement, we shuddered with fear as we heard the approaching tornado
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shuddering
Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 31 Oct. 2025
Literary Hub, 15 Dec. 2025
With haunted vocal multitracking and big, shuddering beats, the album builds to a climax in which hope and fear are swept into the same rush of human experience.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 12 Dec. 2025
Green, who was crowned the inaugural champion back in December 2024, saw her first reign come to a shuddering halt at the hands of Zelina Vega.
—Andrew Ravens, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Nov. 2025
Andy sighed, shuddering between them.
—Bryan Washington, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2025
The White House will be well aware of this fact, particularly in an environment where fiscally conservative Republicans will be shuddering at Uncle Sam’s $37 trillion (and growing) national debt.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 20 Aug. 2025
The shuddering horror of the Coldplay couple.
—Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 13 Aug. 2025
Noun
Fellow clubgoers splashed cold water on his face in an attempt to stop the shuddering.
—Verb
Most of the camp was enclosed with an electrified fence, to keep out the Big Men, the massive, shuddering ursids that could not be named (more on that later).
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for shuddering
Noun
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There’s Walter’s serene cello and Marjorie’s pensive, slightly coy violin, sometimes playful or petulant or, still, a little vain and secretive — other times thin and trembling, lost in the haze of dementia.—
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Lost in the trembling of my own body, trembling like Bunny’s body.—
Verb
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Structure information summary Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are highly resistant to earthquake shaking, though some vulnerable structures exist.—
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While Bryant was able to come from behind, the Lady Hornets had a hard time shaking off the Lady Warriors.—
Noun
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Patients first experience twitching or weakness in a limb, as Decker did.—
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The more serious side effects of caffeine overdose include trouble breathing, sudden high blood pressure, muscle twitching, confusion, vomiting and seizures.—
Verb
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To that point, Olympia shouldn’t be allowed to play the jury the tear-jerking recording of Frank’s final phone call home as the water rose.—
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The Surprise Lining The most tear-jerking moment, however, was kept secret until the very last minute.—
Adjective
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That week’s host, Emily Blunt, did the trembly voice-over.—
Noun
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Watts’s snare sound was really a mix of sounds—a thwacking snap on the head, the vibration of the air in the drum itself, the click of wood on the rim.—
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Shorebirds like sandpipers and plovers use this sense to detect prey beneath the sand by sensing subtle mechanical vibrations.—
Verb
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For Lusti, the highwire act has less to do with skiing over exposure that would turn the rest of us into quivering piles of jello and more to do with learning when her time outdoors stops being a refuge and starts being a hiding place.—
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Those of us without earplugs stupidly massaged our jaws, heads tilted, eyelids quivering, listening to overtones through our teeth.—
Adjective
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What she’s produced is a searching, pointedly disorienting text, studded with passages of extreme beauty and generous humor, that wears whimsy like a shivering veil over consuming discomfort, even terror.—
Cite this Entry
“Shuddering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shuddering. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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