trepidation
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
Merriam-Webster
4.5 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 26 August 2025
⏱️ 2 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 26, 2025 is:
trepidation • \trep-uh-DAY-shun\ • noun
Trepidation refers to a feeling of fear that causes someone to hesitate because they think that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen.
// The students felt a sense of trepidation upon being summoned to the principal's office.
Examples:
"Met by some with cautious optimism, others with trepidation, and others with doomsday predictions, there is no doubt that AI is here to stay and changing work in ways yet to be fully revealed." — Laurel Donnellan, Forbes, 28 May 2025
Did you know?
If you've ever trembled with fright, you know something of both the sensation and etymology of trepidation. The word comes from the Latin verb trepidare, which means "to tremble." (Trepidare also gave English the verb trepidate, meaning "to feel nervous or apprehensive," but that word is now considered archaic.) Early meanings of trepidation, such as "tremulous motion" or "tremor," reflect its "shaky" origins. Over time, however, those senses gave way to our modern meaning referring to fearful hesitancy.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | It's the Word of the Day podcast for August 26th. |
| 0:12.0 | Today's word is trepidation, spelled T-R-E-P-I-D-A-T-I-O-N. |
| 0:19.2 | Trepidation is a noun. |
| 0:24.3 | Trepidation refers to a feeling of fear that causes someone to hesitate because they think that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen. Here's the word used. |
| 0:29.8 | In a sentence from Forbes, met by some with cautious optimism, others with trepidation, and others |
| 0:37.0 | with doomsday predictions, there is no doubt |
| 0:39.7 | that AI is here to stay and changing work in ways yet to be fully revealed. |
| 0:45.5 | If you've ever trembled with fright, you know something of both the sensation and |
| 0:50.9 | etymology of the word trepidation. It comes from the Latin verb trepidare, which means |
| 0:56.8 | to tremble. Trepidare is also the root of the English verb trepidate, meaning to feel nervous or |
| 1:04.3 | apprehensive, but that word is now considered archaic. Early meanings of trepidation, such as tremulous |
| 1:10.8 | motion or tremor, reflect its |
| 1:13.0 | shaky origins. Over time, however, those senses gave way to our modern meaning referring to |
| 1:19.7 | fearful hesitancy. With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski. |
| 1:33.6 | Visit Miriamwebster.com today for definitions, wordplay, and trending word lookups. |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Merriam-Webster, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Merriam-Webster and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

