🎤 Shaking sound 🎤 A trembling quality

quavery

1 7.7

Shaky in the voice, often showing nervousness or strong feeling

adjective
/ˈkwā-və-rē/

: tembloroso

During the emotional speech, her quavery voice revealed just how hard it was for her to share her story.

Examples

Her voice was quavery as she spoke, making it clear she was nervous about performing.
He tried to sing, but his notes came out quavery due to his cold.
The voice is too fragile, too quavery for me to identify.

Fiction book (1995)

Synonyms

to shaking

vsquavery

213 1.0

To move quickly back and forth or up and down, making things tremble

refers to a shaky vocal sound rather than general mechanical movement

shaky

vsquavery

51 2.1

Not steady and trembling, often from fear, cold, or tiredness

is about a trembling vocal sound rather than general lack of physical steadiness

trembling

vsquavery

18 2.6

Shaking slightly because you feel afraid, cold, or weak

applies mainly to voice vibration rather than whole body movement

shivering

vsquavery

8 2.2

Trembling a little because of cold, fear, or excitement

is limited to voice trembling rather than full body reactions from cold

tremulous

vsquavery

4 8.6

A voice that shakes slightly because the person is afraid or nervous

is a broader label for shaky vocal sound rather than this formal tone

fluttery

vsquavery

2 4.9

Feeling nervous and excited with a quick, shaky feeling in the body

describes a general shaky vocal tone rather than a light quick nervous feeling

aquiver

vsquavery

2 9.9

Shaking slightly, often because of excitement or strong feeling

focuses more on a trembling voice sound rather than excited bodily quiver

quavering

vsquavery

1 7.2

A voice that trembles because of weakness, fear, or strong feeling

focuses on any shaking voice generally rather than this specific trembling pattern

quivery

vsquavery

1 5.0

Shaking slightly because of strong feelings or weakness

emphasizes a voice trembling sound specifically rather than general slight shaking

trembly

vsquavery

1 4.4

Shaking slightly in the hands and voice because of fear or weakness

is focused on voice sound specifically rather than general slight shaking

warbly

vsquavery

1 8.0

A shaky sound that moves up and down in pitch

is about plain vibratory voice shaking rather than melodic pitch variation

Antonyms

steady

171 1.3

Firm and unlikely to be moved or upset

How Shaky

shuddering

5 5.1

shaky

51 2.1

quavery

1 7.7

trembling

18 2.6

unsteady

16 3.3

steady

171 1.3

Surface Forms

quavery positive

Morphology

quavery = quaver (transparent) = quaver + y

Regular adjectival formation from the verb 'quaver' with the productive suffix '-y', meaning 'having or characterized by a quaver'.

Etymology

Quavery comes from the verb quaver, and a helpful way to remember it is to think of the words quiver and quake, which all suggest 'to shake'. So a quavery voice or hand is one that trembles or sounds nervous.