trepidation
Americannoun
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trepidations
plural
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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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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; see trepid, -ate 1, -ion
Explanation
When plain old "fear" isn't enough to get across a deep feeling of dread about something on the horizon, use the more formal word trepidation. "It was with a certain trepidation that I attended an advance screening of Rob Zombie's Halloween in Hollywood last night," wrote a film reviewer. Some dictionaries note that trepidation carries connotations of apprehension about an upcoming threat. In most cases, though, you can get by with the simpler word fear — why use three syllables when you could make do with one? The word comes from the Latin verb trepidare, "to tremble."
Vocabulary lists containing trepidation
The Crucible
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Words inspired by "Inside Out"
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Grade 10, List 6
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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.
See Examples For:
People on other continents watch in trepidation under vivid, red-orange sunrises and sunsets.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
U.S. stocks ended mixed as inflation and Middle East war trepidation offset optimism about the artificial-intelligence boom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Celtic fans are tiptoeing with trepidation into their first European action since their Champions League play-off collapse in Linz, a capitulation that has the same supporters questioning this team's big-game credentials, especially after Sunday.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
The only trepidation would’ve been because this was the power-ballad era of all the hair-metal bands.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
And so, with trepidation, I await my full recovery.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Next year, Ravinder and Gita will have been married for half a century, the trepidations of youth dispelled by time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 25, 2025
I was nervous that he would have trepidations — ‘Oh, I’ve got this sick person on set.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2025
I had trepidations about moving there with small children, and we had a few rough months adjusting to the heat and battling intestinal ailments.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 8, 2023
"I had trepidations about coming at all, but I'm glad I did," he says.
From BBC ● May 30, 2023
McGuire's explanations had been thin and Peter knew that the real reason for the old man's trepidations was something other than the ones he had given.
From The Vagrant Duke by George Gibbs
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
