What does tremorous mean?
Tremorous means trembling, quivering, or marked by nervous unsteadiness. The adjective can describe a physical reaction, as in a tremorous voice or tremorous hands, and it can also suggest anxiety or fear so intense that movement or speech becomes unsteady. Its literary character gives it a more expressive and slightly elevated tone than the familiar word tremulous, making it especially useful in fiction, poetry, and formal descriptions of emotional strain. Although not restricted to one region, tremorous appears less often in everyday contemporary English than its synonym tremulous. The word is part of a broader family rooted in the idea of shaking: tremor, tremble, and tremulous all express related forms of trembling or nervousness.
adjectiveTrembling or quivering, especially with fear, anxiety, or physical weakness. It can also describe a feeling or movement marked by nervous unsteadiness.
- Physically trembling, quivering, or shaking.
- Nervous, anxious, or unsteady in feeling or behavior.
"She spoke in a tremorous voice, barely concealing her anxiety."
"A tremorous hand reached for the doorknob."
"The witness gave a tremorous account of the accident."
Tremorous captures the visible strain of anxiety: a voice that shakes before the words can steady themselves.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of tremorous
Tremorous comes from Latin tremere, meaning “to tremble” or “to shake.” The English word developed in the early 17th century as a literary adjective based on the same Latin root that also produced tremor, tremble, and tremulous. Related English forms preserve the idea of movement caused by shaking, trembling, or nervousness.
Related word forms
How tremorous is actually used
Tremorous is literary and relatively uncommon in modern English. It is most often associated with a trembling voice, hands, or manner, but it can also convey nervous or anxious unsteadiness.
Easily confused with tremorous
Both words mean trembling or nervous, but tremulous is the more familiar and widely used adjective, whereas tremorous is a relatively uncommon literary synonym.