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Glite Dictionary
shiver down someone's spine

shiver down someone's spine

1 5.9
A sudden feeling of fear or excitement that moves along your back
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : escalofrío
  • That sends shivers down my spine!
  • send shivers down my spine

Examples

  • Hearing the eerie music in the old house gave me a shiver down my spine.

  • Even the thought of this sends a shiver down my spine.

    Blog text (22)

  • The moment I heard your name back in the morgue, I felt a shiver down my spine.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • The ghost story she told sent a shiver down my spine as I imagined the haunting details.

  • When she whispered the secret, I felt a shiver down my spine from the thrill of it.

Synonyms

chill
vsshiver down someone's spine
110 4.0

A sudden shiver of fear or excitement

is felt as a sudden physical sensation along the back
shiver
vsshiver down someone's spine
50 1.4

A sudden small shake of the body from cold, fear or excitement

is the sudden sensation concentrated along the back rather than whole body
tingle
vsshiver down someone's spine
26 3.3

A small prickly feeling on the skin often caused by excitement or cold

is a stronger sudden feeling often experienced along the back
tremble
vsshiver down someone's spine
23 2.7

A small shaking that you feel when you are very afraid or cold

is a sudden feeling focused on the back rather than a general body shake
goosepimply chill
vsshiver down someone's spine
  • Informal
9.9

A small shiver with goosebumps from fear or excitement

is felt mainly as a sudden physical sensation along the back
bone-shaking fear
vsshiver down someone's spine
8.3

A very strong fear that feels like it shakes your body

is a sudden feeling that can be mild or brief rather than overwhelming fear

Antonyms

comfort
190 1.0

A feeling of physical ease and being free from pain

reassurance
51 3.7

Words or actions that make someone feel less worried and more confident

Surface Forms

shiver down someone's spine singular
shivers down someone's spine plural

Morphology

shiver + down + someone's + spine

The meaning is directly built from 'shiver' (a sudden tremble) + 'down' (along/through) + 'spine' (the back), so a learner who knows those words can infer a sudden physical sensation running along the back associated with fear or excitement. This bodily-motion metaphor is cross-linguistically common and follows transparent compositional logic, making it readily understandable to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Shiver down someone's spine comes from a clear physical image: a quick shiver running down the spine, like a small shake along your back when you are suddenly scared or excited. That's why it now means 'a sudden feeling of fear or strong emotion'.