judder

Imagine an old washing machine on its last legs, making the whole room shake in a rough, rattling way. That is the feeling this word gives. It describes a strong, uneven shaking or vibrating motion, usually sudden and unpleasant. A car might judder on a rough road, or a machine might judder when something is wrong. Unlike the general word "shake," this one suggests a harsh, broken movement rather than a smooth one. It is most often used for engines, vehicles, and other machines, but it can also describe a person's voice or body shaking because of strong emotion.

To judder means to shake or vibrate violently and irregularly. It suggests a rough, jarring motion that isn't smooth or controlled. While similar to "shake" or "vibrate," judder emphasizes the abruptness and often unpleasant nature of the movement.

You'll most commonly encounter "judder" when describing mechanical things: "The train juddered along the old tracks," or "The engine began to judder as the car climbed the hill." It often suggests that something is not working smoothly, perhaps because of a loose part, a fault, or rough contact with a surface. Think of a bus shaking hard over a broken road: that is a classic juddering motion.

However, judder can also be used more broadly for physical reactions linked to emotion or shock. If someone's voice or body judders, the idea is that it moves in a broken, unsteady way because of strong feeling, fear, or strain. This use is less common than the mechanical one, but it still sounds natural in descriptive writing.

The word can also be a noun, so you might speak of "a judder" or "a sudden judder" in a car, train, or machine. In everyday English, it is not one of the most common words, but it is very useful when "shake" feels too broad and you want to show a harsher, more irregular movement. When something rattles, lurches, and vibrates in a way that feels rough and unsettling, this is often the right word.