smoulder
Americanverb (used without object)
-
smoulders,
present (3rd person singular)
-
smouldered,
past participle, past
-
smouldering
present participle
verb
-
to burn slowly without flame, usually emitting smoke
-
(esp of anger, etc) to exist in a suppressed or half-suppressed state
-
to have strong repressed or half repressed feelings, esp anger
noun
-
dense smoke, as from a smouldering fire
-
a smouldering fire
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
smouldersimple
-
smoulderssimple
-
have smoulderedperfect
-
has smoulderedperfect
-
am smoulderingprogressive
-
are smoulderingprogressive
-
is smoulderingprogressive
-
have been smoulderingperfect progressive
-
has been smoulderingperfect progressive
Past
-
smoulderedsimple
-
had smoulderedperfect
-
was smoulderingprogressive
-
were smoulderingprogressive
-
had been smoulderingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of smoulder
C14: from smolder (n), of obscure origin
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:
The blaze was put under control on August 1, but continued to smoulder underground for weeks before finally being declared out.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
The service said it can smoulder for a long time when heat from a fire is trapped.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Once people realized that the authorities had not acted in their best interest, resentment began to smoulder.
From Scientific American ● Nov. 17, 2022
Smaller ones than in the Sierra de la Culebra continued to smoulder on Monday to the east in Navarra and Catalonia.
From Reuters ● Jun. 20, 2022
But in the West the dying sun had set all the fume on fire, and now Mindolluin stood black against a burning smoulder flecked with embers.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
More than a million Muslims are gathering in Mecca for the hajj pilgrimage overshadowed by the Middle East war, as animosity smoulders across the region despite a fragile ceasefire.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
A similar concern smoulders about Japan's Treasury holdings as the yen weakens close to 150 per dollar and the prospect of Bank of Japan dollar selling intervention heightens.
From Reuters ● Oct. 19, 2023
But, he concluded: "I'm not sure this new version brings as much to the table... A camp fire burns at one side. It's just a pity that the production as a whole smoulders fitfully."
From BBC ● May 19, 2023
While that smoulders at the top, another row is flaring at the grassroots.
From Economist ● Apr. 28, 2011
The real life of his genius smoulders into what the woodmen call a smudge, and gives evidence of itself in smoke instead of flame.
From The Function of the Poet and Other Essays by James Russell Lowell
Six-time Brits winner and triple nominee Dua Lipa smouldered in a fitted, black leather sculpted dress by Donatella Versace.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2024
A bank in the Badaro neighbourhood smouldered as firefighters sprayed water, while riot police stood nearby with shields.
From Reuters ● Feb. 16, 2023
In all, six provinces in Sumatra were put on “emergency alert” as hundreds of “hotspots” of burning trees and vegetation flared and smouldered.
From Economist ● Sep. 10, 2015
Later, as London smouldered, the irony of the Clash – a band forever associated with riot and protest – being on the cover of NME again was all too obvious.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 14, 2011
They stood there in complete silence, side by side, while the incense smouldered into ashes; and then because the sun was sinking, Wang Lung shouldered the box and they went home.
From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck
"Our facilities and infrastructure for firefighting are very limited," he told AFP, standing on the smouldering embers of a peatland fire separated from a residential settlement by a narrow dirt road.
From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026
But while the small pockets of smouldering vegetation are still being dealt with, attention is turning to improving wildfire protection.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
The war has also continued to spread, sucking in and reigniting Yemen's smouldering civil war.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
Parts of the site that were still smouldering reignited.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
He stood in the midst of the temple with the other crewmembers, his face covered in soot, his clothes smouldering.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
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.
