- present participle of scorch.
scorching
Americanadjective
-
burning; very hot.
-
caustic or scathing.
a scorching denunciation.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of scorching
Explanation
Use the adjective scorching to mean extremely hot. The scorching heat from a wildfire tar on roads and char nearby houses and trees. There's a huge difference between a warm day and a scorching one; the word implies a brutal heat. If the weather is scorching, you'll be desperate for air conditioning, iced drinks, or the relief of a cold shower. You can also use it to mean "harsh," like a critic's scorching review of a really terrible movie. Etymologists suspect that scorching is derived from the Old Norse skorpna, "to be shriveled."
Vocabulary lists containing scorching
A Rover's Story
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I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake, 1906
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The School for Invisible Boys
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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.
The wildfire comes as Spain swelters in a heatwave, with scorching temperatures triggering orange weather warnings – the second highest level -- across parts of Andalusia in recent days.
From Barron's • Jul. 10, 2026
Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer when some regions experience intense rainfall while others bake in scorching heat.
From Barron's • Jul. 7, 2026
More is planned for the July 4 weekend—even as scorching temperatures threaten to damp the fun.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 4, 2026
A prolonged and dangerous heatwave will intensify across a large swath of the US this week, bringing scorching daytime heat, high humidity and stifling overnight temperatures, forecasters predict.
From BBC • Jun. 30, 2026
Thinking back, Omakayas could even remember him, sitting by the fire as close as he could without scorching, a tired-looking man, thin and scraggly braids, coughing and feeble.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
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.
