smolder
or smoul·der
to burn without flame; undergo slow or suppressed combustion.
to exist or continue in a suppressed state or without outward demonstration: Hatred smoldered beneath a polite surface.
to display repressed feelings, as of indignation, anger, or the like: to smolder with rage.
dense smoke resulting from slow or suppressed combustion.
a smoldering fire.
Origin of smolder
1Other words from smolder
- un·smol·der·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use smolder in a sentence
This story simply could not be completed—the proof smoldered on the notepad in front of me.
A Mathematically Impossible Novel: Manil Suri Explains “The City of Devi” | Manil Suri | March 15, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThe clothes that designer Stefano Pilati created for his final collection at YSL smoldered with audacity and dark sexuality.
Paris Fall Fashion Week 2012: A Finale at Yves Saint Laurent | Robin Givhan | March 7, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTBut inner-city violence has smoldered for a long time, explains crime journalist Gavin Knight.
Backstage—as young singers fought to the death—a war smoldered.
As luck would have it, some sparks still smoldered in the tow, and thus I was able once more to nurse up a tiny flame.
The Way of a Man | Emerson Hough
But that spark which he had tried in vain to fan into flame still smoldered.
The Range Boss | Charles Alden SeltzerAt last the candles snuffed out, and naught but the back log smoldered and glowed in the darkness.
The Green Forest Fairy Book | Loretta Ellen BradyAs a fire that has smoldered long flames up in many places at once, so the war broke out with several actions in quick succession.
Four American Indians | Edson L. WhitneyDressed in the habit of his order, the Prior sat before a pile of logs that smoldered in the huge fireplace.
Rescue Dog of the High Pass | James Arthur Kjelgaard
British Dictionary definitions for smolder
/ (ˈsməʊldə) /
the US spelling of smoulder
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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