# tremulous
## English
### Etymology

From Latin tremulus, from tremō (“I tremble, shake”) + -ulus. Doublet of tremor and tremble. By surface analysis, tremulate +‎ -ous.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈtɹɛmjʊləs/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈtɹɛmjuləs/, /ˈtɹɛmjələs/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
* Hyphenation: trem‧u‧lous
* Rhymes: -ləs

### Adjective

tremulous (comparative more tremulous, superlative most tremulous)
* Trembling, quivering, or shaking.
    Synonyms: quaking, shivering, shaky, trembly, tremulant
** 1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson [et al.], page iv:Tremulous on the bladed graſs ſhone bright the pearly drops, like an aſſembly of ſparkling ſtars dancing on the plains of the zodiac; vocal was every bending ſpray, every reed was inſpired, each warbling throat ſeemed to emulate the melodious voice of the bird of a thouſand ſongs.
** 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Part VI”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 124:From the high tree the blossom wavering fell, / And over them the tremulous isles of light / Slided, they moving under shade: […]
** 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Recognition”, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, page 79:The trying nature of his position drove the blood from his cheek, and made his lips tremulous.
** 1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter I, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London, New York, N.Y., Melbourne, Vic.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC, page 1:[…] Lord Henry Wotton could just catch the gleam of the honey-sweet and honey-coloured blossoms of a laburnum, whose tremulous branches seemed hardly able to bear the burden of a beauty so flame-like as theirs[.]
** 1892, Walt Whitman, “Children of Adam: Once I Pass’d Through a Populous City”, in Leaves of Grass […], Philadelphia, Pa.: David McKay, publisher, […], →OCLC, page 94:Again she holds me by the hand, I must not go, / I see her close beside me with silent lips sad and tremulous.
** 1919, William MacLeod Raine, chapter XXVII, in A Man Four-Square, Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, →OCLC, page 225:“Thank God!” he cried brokenly, all the pent emotion of the long night vibrant in his tremulous voice.
** 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 12, in Crime out of Mind, New York: I[ves] Washburn:Light filtered in through the blinds of the french windows. It made tremulous stripes along the scrubbed pine floor.
* Timid, hesitant; lacking confidence.
    Synonyms: fearful, timorous, wavering
** 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter II, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume III, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 39:In the mean time I worked on, and my labour was already considerably advanced. I looked towards its completion with a tremulous and eager hope, which I dared not trust myself to question, but which was intermixed with obscure forebodings of evil, that made my heart sicken in my bosom.
** 1891, Grant Allen, chapter XV, in The Great Taboo, New York: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 132:“You have lived here long?” Felix asked, with tremulous interest, as he took a seat on the bench under the big tree, towards which his new host politely motioned him.
** 2009 October 7, Christopher Kimball, “Opinion: Gourmet to All That”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-27:This, hard on the heels of the death of Julia Child in 2004, makes one tremulous about the future.

#### Derived terms

* tremulously
* tremulousness
* untremulous

#### Translations
### References

* ↑ “tremulous, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

### Further reading

* “tremulous”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
* “tremulous”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “tremulous, a.”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.