fume
noun
Often fumes any smokelike or vaporous exhalation from matter or substances, especially of an odorous or harmful nature.
fume
1 American
[fyoom]
/ fjum /
noun
verb (used with object)
-
fumes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
fumed,
past participle, past
-
fuming
present participle
-
to emit or exhale, as fumes or vapor.
giant stacks fuming their sooty smoke.
-
to treat with or expose to fumes.
verb (used without object)
-
fumes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
fumed,
past participle, past
-
fuming
present participle
fumé
2
American
[fy -mey]
/ füˈmeɪ /
adjective
French.
fume
British
/ fjuːm /
verb
-
(intr) to be overcome with anger or fury; rage
-
to give off (fumes) or (of fumes) to be given off, esp during a chemical reaction
-
(tr) to subject to or treat with fumes; fumigate
noun
-
(often plural) a pungent or toxic vapour
-
a sharp or pungent odour
-
a condition of anger
fume
Scientific
/ fyo̅o̅m /
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
fumesimple
-
fumessimple
-
have fumedperfect
-
has fumedperfect
-
am fumingprogressive
-
are fumingprogressive
-
is fumingprogressive
-
have been fumingperfect progressive
-
has been fumingperfect progressive
Past
-
fumedsimple
-
had fumedperfect
-
was fumingprogressive
-
were fumingprogressive
-
had been fumingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fume
1350–1400; Middle English < Old French fum < Latin fūmus smoke, steam, fume
Explanation
To fume is to feel or express great anger. You would fume if your teacher accused you of cheating when you didn't. As a verb, fume is usually used figuratively to mean "to feel very angry," whereas as a noun, it is used more as its Latin root fumus "smoke, steam, vapor." A strong-smelling gas, smoke or vapor is also called a fume. In cartoons, when a character is fuming, it is often drawn with fumes coming out of its ears. You may fume about the inconsiderate person who sits in the car with the engine running, spewing clouds of exhaust fumes.
Vocabulary lists containing fume
Instead of "Said": Vexed Verbiage to Express Anger
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Holes
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"Macbeth": Act 1 Scene 7
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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.
See Examples For:
But if you’re honest, you also loved watching the guy dumb enough to buy it fume over the futility of his impulses.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
"It's one thing to look at chemistry and a set of materials at the single cell level in a fume hood," said Bailey.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Angel now looks like Italy’s PM and parishioners fume.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 3, 2026
Shortly after, 39 members of Congress wrote to FAA administrator Bryan Bedford to ask for the agency to accelerate efforts to address fume events and provide a new mechanism for passengers to report incidents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025
I keep my bottom planted on the bench and fume at the injustice of my parents.
From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins
The deftly seared fillet sat atop an aromatic fumé of fennel, saffron and tomato.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 12, 2017
She works mostly under a hood, which vents the chemical and fecal fumes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Tom Smith KC, for TG Jones, told the hearing that the business is "highly distressed" and "running on fumes at the moment".
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
The fire has been contained to the warehouse but continues to burn, spewing fumes that smell of burning plastic.
From Barron's ● Jun. 21, 2026
The fire reached an ammonia line, triggering several small explosions and a dramatic image of flames shooting through the building roof as crews evacuated the area to avoid the fumes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
"Sorry. Just talking to myself. The fumes are getting to me, I guess."
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
He fumed when a group member suggested printing ‘Stop AI’ on purple shirts rather than red.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
Her husband, Paul Quattlebaum, fumed, “If I took my dog to a vet and it had this problem, that dog would get better treatment.”
From Salon ● May 27, 2026
Former England striker Gary Lineker wrote on X that it "might be the worst VAR decision I've seen... extraordinary given the significance" and McInnes fumed at the call afterwards.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
From his second-floor apartment that overlooked a stretch of road in Sylmar lined with broken-down RV’s, Vincent Wolf fumed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2026
“Now I shall have to waste part of my salary on clothes, which I hardly need,” she fumed, although it was not really true, for the elbows of her sleeves were worn rather thin.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
And he sure did, fuming at her publicly and privately for several days in a row.
From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2026
As we drove home, we were both fuming.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
That left actor Thomas, who was covered in ants during his part of the challenge, fuming.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026
The president is fuming at the justices as they prepare to take up his next big case.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
I rush inside and up the stairs to my room, where I set it on my desk and then just stand there, fuming.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Definitions 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.
