shiver

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To tremble or shake.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

shiver

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US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈʃɪvɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

To tremble or shake, especially when cold or frightened.
Shake, as from cold
“The children are shivering--turn on the heat!”
To break into splinters or fragments.

noun

The act of shivering.
A fragment or splinter, especially of glass or stone.
A small wedge, as for fastening the bolt of a window shutter.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: C2 · Proficient
Frequency: Uncommon
Typical Use: Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To tremble or shake, especially when cold or frightened.

Used this way, shiver is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It sounds natural in ordinary conversation and in expressive writing alike.

Emotional tone: Negative
Formality: Neutral
Intensity: Gentle
How common: Moderately common
Connotation: Serious and weighty
Usage feel: Everyday but emotionally strong

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use shiver

“The children are shivering--turn on the heat!”verb

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

shiver throughslight shiver

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

shudder
Shake, as from cold.
shake
To shake hands.
chill
To become cold.
dither
To tremble, shake, or shiver.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

shivnounBase word
A knife used as a weapon.
shiveringnounInflected form
A sensation of cold that often marks the start of an infection and the development of a fever.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: shivering

frisson

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.