shudder

CEFRB2

/ˈʃʌdəː/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To shake suddenly because of fear, cold, or disgust.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    A shivering tremor, often from fear or horror.

Examples

  • The sound of an awful scream made him shudder.

  • I shudder to think of it.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
4
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • [ˈʃʰʌ̈dɚ] ~ [ˈʃʰʌ̈dɹ̩]

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To vibrate jerkily.

  2. To shake nervously, often from fear or horror.

noun

Extra meaning

  1. A moment of almost pleasurable fear; a frisson.

More examples

In context

  • On seeing the spider under his pillow, John shuddered.

  • Seeing the spider under his pillow gave John a shudder.

  • VVreath'd vp in fatall folds iuſt in his way, / The feare where of doth make him ſhake, & ſhudder, […]

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

When the cold wind hit her skin, she couldn't help but blank with a quick, involuntary shake.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English schoderen, from Middle Dutch schudderen and/or Middle Low German schodderen, iterative forms of the verb at hand in Dutch schudden, Low German schüdden (both “to shake”), German schütten (“to pour”), from Proto-Germanic *skudjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *skewdʰ-. From Low German are also borrowed German schaudern (“to shudder”), Danish skudre.