smoulder
Americanverb (used without object)
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smoulders,
present (3rd person singular)
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smouldered,
past participle, past
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smouldering
present participle
verb
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to burn slowly without flame, usually emitting smoke
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(esp of anger, etc) to exist in a suppressed or half-suppressed state
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to have strong repressed or half repressed feelings, esp anger
noun
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dense smoke, as from a smouldering fire
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a smouldering fire
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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smouldersimple
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smoulderssimple
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have smoulderedperfect
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has smoulderedperfect
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am smoulderingprogressive
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are smoulderingprogressive
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is smoulderingprogressive
-
have been smoulderingperfect progressive
-
has been smoulderingperfect progressive
Past
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smoulderedsimple
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had smoulderedperfect
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was smoulderingprogressive
-
were smoulderingprogressive
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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:
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
At a nearby local bar, a popular spot to hang out, ashes still smoulder.
From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2021
Yet the remnants of what just a generation ago were vast swathes of virgin rainforest still smoulder and flame.
From Economist ● Sep. 10, 2015
In the centre of the town the bonfire was beginning to smoulder.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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
But in January, the province saw an unprecedented peak of 106 active zombie fires, raising concern among fire scientists about what these smoulders will mean for the upcoming wildfire season.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2024
Another weekend of financial firefighting has doused the whole interest rate horizon as the banking blaze smoulders.
From Reuters ● Mar. 20, 2023
The trailer has some sleek and dazzling scenes in Thailand, and Gosling smoulders radioactively.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 18, 2013
There is a fading inward of the day, And all the pansy heaven clasps one star; The dwindling acres eastward glimmer gray, While all the world to westward smoulders far.
From One Day & Another A Lyrical Eclogue by Julius Madison Cawein
A bank in the Badaro neighbourhood smouldered as firefighters sprayed water, while riot police stood nearby with shields.
From Reuters ● Feb. 16, 2023
Plastic chairs for the many mourners that had visited the house over the last three days stood above rain-soaked asphalt, while Arabic coffee slowly smouldered on the coals nearby.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 17, 2015
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
They smouldered through the winter's frost, waiting for a spark to reignite.
From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2015
His eyes smouldered with anger, but he could not avenge himself: his miserable enemy lay grovelling on the stones whimpering.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
The war has also continued to spread, sucking in and reigniting Yemen's smouldering civil war.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
From damaged port infrastructure to listing ships with bridges blackened and containers still smouldering, the evidence is everywhere.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Large areas of scorched terrain still concealed active and smouldering pockets that could quickly reignite if the wind picks up again.
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
Light morning rain boosted that outlook, though firefighters remained wary given previous flare-ups from smouldering embers in the devastated land, covering a bigger area than the island of Malta.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
The bus was still lodged inside the welfare office’s walls, smouldering.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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.
