What does trembler mean?
A trembler is a person who trembles, especially because of fear, nervousness, weakness, or strong emotion. It may also be used for a thing that shakes or vibrates, although that sense is less common in modern usage. The word focuses attention on the person or object exhibiting the movement rather than simply naming the movement itself: a person may tremble, while the person is a trembler. This gives it a slightly literary or old-fashioned quality, and it can sound more pointed than the more neutral term trembling. In ordinary speech, someone described as a trembler is likely to be regarded as visibly nervous, frightened, or physically unsteady. Trembler is also occasionally used figuratively for a person whose confidence visibly fails under pressure. Its clearest modern use is therefore as a noun for a visibly shaken individual, while related words such as tremble, tremor, and tremulous express the action, symptom, or quality more directly.
nounA person who trembles, especially because of fear, nervousness, weakness, or strong emotion. The word can also refer more generally to anything that shakes or vibrates.
- A person who trembles, especially from fear, nervousness, weakness, or strong emotion.
- Something that shakes, quivers, or vibrates.
"The nervous child was a constant trembler whenever the teacher called on him."
"Even an experienced speaker can become a trembler under the pressure of a national audience."
"The delicate instrument was mounted on a small trembler to keep its movement steady."
The standard plural of the noun, used for multiple people or things that tremble.
"The two nervous tremblers waited just outside the examination room."
The suffix -er turns the action of trembling into a label for the person who cannot hold still.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does trembler come from?
Trembler is formed from the verb tremble and the agent suffix -er, producing a noun for someone or something that trembles. Tremble was borrowed into Middle English from Middle French trembler and is ultimately related to the Latin tremere, meaning “to shake.” English cognates include tremor, borrowed from Latin, and tremulous, derived from the same Latin family of words.
How trembler is actually used
Trembler is relatively uncommon and can sound somewhat old-fashioned. For a person who shakes because of fear or nervousness, it is usually more pointed and less neutral than the common noun trembling.
Easily confused with trembler
Tremble is the verb describing the act of shaking, whereas a trembler is a person or thing that trembles.
A tremor usually names a shaking movement, symptom, or vibration, while a trembler names the person or thing exhibiting the shaking.