- present participle of blister.
blistering
Americanadjective
-
(of weather) extremely hot
-
(of criticism) extremely harsh
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of blistering
Explanation
Use the adjective blistering to mean extremely hot. You might love living in Georgia, except for the blistering heat in the summer time. A baker has to remove her loaves of bread carefully from the oven because of the blistering heat. You can also use blistering to mean a different kind of heat: "Her blistering criticism took him by surprise." Or a racer might set out on a track at a blistering pace, one that's incredibly fast or impressive. The original, hot meaning of blistering comes from the idea that something is "hot enough to form blisters."
Vocabulary lists containing blistering
The Sweltering Words of Summer
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The Kite Runner
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This Week in Words: September 25 - October 1, 2017
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the wake of blistering cutbacks during the pandemic, she said, some airlines wondered if they should keep offering amenity kits at all.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
Surging exports this year have fuelled the island's blistering economic growth, with gross domestic product expanding 12.9 percent in the second quarter.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
The result was bubbling, blistering and peeling that appeared just weeks after the renovation was completed.
From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026
After some blistering strokeplay when he took down the home side's attack, they certainly know who he is now.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
For a few endless moments, Tally felt only relief to have escaped the searing wind, the thundering machine, the blistering heat of the firestorm.
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
