揺れ
Meanings
shaking; vibration; tremor; flickering
Physical shaking, vibration, or quivering of objects, ground, light, etc. Often used for earthquakes, vehicle motion, or unstable images.
Things fell off the shelf due to the earthquake shaking.
It's hard to read because of the train's vibration.
instability; wavering; unsettledness
Figurative use for emotional, mental, or situational instability; hesitation, vacillation, or lack of firmness.
I couldn't suppress the wavering of my heart.
The instability of the policy caused public distrust.
linguistic variation; multiple forms for one word
Linguistics term for a single word having multiple spellings, pronunciations, or usages. Rare outside academic contexts.
In linguistics, 揺れ refers to the existence of multiple spellings or pronunciations for a single word.
Usage patterns
- 揺れを感じるto feel a shaking/tremor
I felt a slight tremor while on the train.
- 〈人〉の心の揺れsomeone's emotional wavering
His emotional wavering showed on his face.
- 揺れが起きるfor a tremor/shaking to occur
A big tremor occurred late at night.
- 揺れが収まるfor the shaking to subside
After a while, the shaking subsided.
- 揺れを抑えるto suppress/control shaking
The new design suppresses the vehicle's shaking.