颤抖

• Pinyin: chàn dǒu
• Hanzi breakdown: 颤 = 页 (page/head radical) + 亶 (phonetic); 抖 = 扌(hand radical) + 斗 (fight/pour, phonetic)

Meaning

To tremble; to shiver; to shake. Involuntary shaking or vibration of the body, often due to cold, fear, strong emotion, or illness.

Describes visible, often uncontrollable physical shaking. Common in literary and descriptive writing to convey fear, cold, nervous excitement, illness, or intense emotion. Stronger and more vivid than 发抖 in literary contexts, though largely interchangeable in everyday speech. Frequently used with body parts as subject (双手颤抖, 声音颤抖).

Examples

1. 他听到那个噩耗时，双手止不住地颤抖，久久说不出一句话来。 When he heard the terrible news, his hands trembled uncontrollably and he was unable to say a word for a long time.
2. 山区的夜晚寒气逼人，她裹紧外套，身体依然忍不住颤抖。 The mountain nights were bitterly cold, and even wrapped tightly in her coat she could not stop her body from shivering.
3. 老人颤抖着接过荣誉证书，眼眶里噙满了激动的泪水。 The elderly man trembled as he received the certificate of honour, his eyes brimming with tears of deep emotion.

Usage Guide

Context: literature, emotion, weather, illness, description

Tone: vivid

Do Say

• 她紧张得声音都在颤抖，但还是鼓起勇气走上了舞台。(She was so nervous that her voice was trembling, but she still summoned the courage to walk onto the stage.)
• 寒风中，几只麻雀瑟缩在枝头颤抖，显得格外可怜。(In the cold wind, a few sparrows huddled and shivered on the branches, looking particularly pitiful.)

Don't Say

• 机器在颤抖运行。(颤抖 is reserved for living beings or emotionally charged subjects — for machines use 震动 or 抖动: 机器运行时产生震动)

Origin & History

颤 (to tremble, quiver) + 抖 (to shake, tremble). Both characters independently mean to shake — together they reinforce the meaning.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal