dither
English
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dither
- /ˈdɪðə/ UK
- /ˈdɪðɚ/ US
Rhymes with -ɪðə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
Variant of didder, from Middle English dideren (“to tremble”). Compare Middle English bididren, bididdren (“to seduce, deceive”), from Old English bedidrian, bedyderian (“to deceive, trick”).
Alternatively, perhaps with expressive voicing from *titeren, from Proto-Germanic *titrōną. If so, then a doublet of teeter and cognate with Old High German zittarōn (German zittern) and Old Norse titra (Faroese titra, Icelandic titra). Alternatively an unrelated reduplicative onomatopoeia.
verb dithers · dithering · dithered
- To tremble, shake, or shiver. Presently he came running out of the scullery, with the soapy water dripping from him, dithering with cold.
- To be uncertain or unable to make a decision; to vacillate, hesitate, or delay. 2012, The Economist, Sept. 22nd issue, "Indian Reform: At Last" The dithering Mr Singh of recent times may worry that his reform proposals are already too bold. The reforming Mr Singh of yore would see them as just the start.
- To do something nervously.
- To use dot patterns in an image or graphic to simulate colors or shades not in the system palette. Look at how pixelly this wall texture is. You almost don't even notice the dithering when driving by quick. Up close though, it's real chunky.
- To intentionally add noise to a signal to remove artifacts caused by digitization.
noun dithers
- Trembling, shaking, or shivering.
- A state of nervous excitement. Everyone was in a dither; either in it or about to get in it or just climbing out of it. Naturally, the Madam was not in a dither. Dither was a foreign concept to her.
- The state of being undecided; indecision; vacillation.
- A form of noise intentionally added to remove artifacts caused by digitization.
- The use of dot patterns in an image or graphic to approximate colors not available in the system palette.
Translations
Every language
verb to shiver or tremble
| Deutsch | zittern |
|---|---|
| Русский | колебаться kolebat'sja, трястись trjastis' |
verb to be unable to make a decision
| 中文 | 猶豫 /犹豫 yóuyù |
|---|---|
| Português | estar indeciso |
| Français | être indécis, être incertain |
| Deutsch | zögern |
| Italiano | esitare, titubare |
| Русский | колебаться kolebatʹsja |
verb (computing, graphics) to simulate a color digitally
| Français | tramage |
|---|
noun state of being undecided
| Русский | колебание kolebanije |
|---|
Talk about this word "dither." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dither. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. dither. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dither "dither." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dither.Cite this
@misc{dither_2026,
title = {dither},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dither},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
