trepidation
Americannoun
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tremulous fear, alarm, or agitation; perturbation.
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Archaic. trembling or quivering movement; tremor.
noun
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a state of fear or anxiety
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a condition of quaking or palpitation, esp one caused by anxiety
Other Word Forms
- trepidatious adjective
- trepidatiously adverb
Etymology
Origin of trepidation
First recorded in 1600–10; from Latin trepidātiōn- (stem of trepidātiō ), equivalent to trepidāt(us) (past participle of trepidāre “to hurry, panic, alarm” + -iōn- noun suffix; trepid, -ate 1, -ion
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“We still are challenged by the trepidation that marketers might have about hiring an agency in Omaha—marketers thinking that intelligence and creativity are geo-specific,” he said.
Plenty will venture to Murrayfield with great expectations, and a little more trepidation.
From BBC
As I advanced into the interior, parting bushes and brushing branches aside with trepidation, I discovered a rocky landscape covered in vegetation.
From Literature
Women at the time said they looked at every single man with trepidation, and police officers were stationed on many of the town's roads.
From BBC
Analyst John McPeake believes trepidation on Wall Street on Quantum Computing has to do with the company’s ‘relatively little revenue.’
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
