scorching

[skawr-ching]

adjective

1. burning; very hot.

2. caustic or scathing.

   a scorching denunciation.

Other Word Forms

• scorchingly adverb
• unscorching adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of scorching¹

First recorded in 1555–65; scorch + -ing ²

Example Sentences

Mosses are well known for surviving in places that challenge most life, including the Himalayan peaks, the scorching deserts of Death Valley, the Antarctic tundra, and the cooling surfaces of active volcanoes.

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However, the papier-mâché seashell was carried by the wind quite a long way before landing—improbably, but not impossibly—in the scorching sands of the Sahara.

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Fatima gripped her newborn tightly against her chest as the Tuareg woman queued beneath the scorching Mauritanian afternoon sun to register herself and her child as refugees.

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The sun was scorching, the fields were baking, the pond was drying up, and foul odors were floating all throughout the dairy.

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Mr. Järvi led a scorching performance, with the orchestra and both choruses gratifyingly unconstrained.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• blistering 
• fiery 
• searing 
• sizzling 
• sweltering