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.
As Anna Holmes recently pointed out in her blistering New Yorker essay, more than half of millennials have had parental help purchasing their home.
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026
Root miscued to be caught for 69, leading England to promote Will Jacks to number five for a blistering unbroken stand of 185 from only 79 balls with Brook.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
On the one hand, earnings growth has reached a blistering pace typically only seen during the early stages of an economic recovery.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 18, 2026
The blistering heat that has baked Southern California for days is coming to an end, with rain on tap for the weekend and early next week, along with a risk of potentially damaging coastal flooding.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026
If we had rain the next day, or if the sun was blistering hot, we would all be under the green tarp together, saying good-bye to Aunt Florentine.
From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
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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.
