- past participle of melt.
molten
Americanverb
adjective
-
liquefied by heat; in a state of fusion; melted.
molten lead.
-
produced by melting and casting.
a molten image.
adjective
-
liquefied; melted
molten lead
-
made by having been melted
molten casts
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of molten
1250–1300; Middle English; old past participle of melt 1
Explanation
Molten describes an object that's reduced to liquid form by heating. You're probably familiar with lava, the molten rock that explodes out of a volcano. Molten originated from the Old English verb meltian, meaning "become liquid." It takes incredibly high temperatures to get an object that was once rock solid to be transformed into a liquid state. Something much safer than lava has made the term molten popular — molten chocolate cake. This cake has a center that's filled with hot, gooey pudding-like chocolate that oozes out. This is probably the only molten thing you'd ever want to touch.
Vocabulary lists containing molten
Earth Science - Middle School
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Rocks and Minerals - Introductory
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Earth Science - High School
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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.
That was a wonderfully eccentric romance forged in molten lava.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
Kairos uses molten fluoride salt as a coolant, allowing it to operate at low pressures and high temperatures, and it also has a smaller demonstration reactor under construction in Oak Ridge.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
The confession results in confusion and anger erupting like molten lava from all sides, instantly corroding Emma’s bond with Charlie and her relationships with their friends.
From Salon • Apr. 9, 2026
Instead of relying on harsh chemicals, it starts with solid materials called MAX phases and uses molten salts along with iodine vapor to form MXene sheets.
From Science Daily • Apr. 4, 2026
Flames lick her, and the walls hiss and spit molten plaster.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
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.
