seething
Britishadjective
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boiling or foaming as if boiling
-
crowded and full of restless activity
-
in a state of extreme agitation, esp through anger
Other Word Forms
- seethingly adverb
Explanation
Seething describes anger you can barely contain. If you are seething and something sets you off, you just might explode into a rage. Someone who's seething with anger is furious but keeping it a secret. Maybe someone insulted you in front of others and you want to let it go — on the inside, though, you might be seething. Or during the big game, an opponent's harsh words can have you seething, but you want to stay focused on scoring points. Seething sometimes describes something that's boiling over, like a seething pot of soup, and this is also the root of the word.
Vocabulary lists containing seething
A Midsummer Night's Dream
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Stargirl
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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.
It’s a truly stunning expression of his rage and betrayal — a seething accusation — told entirely through bodies and gesture.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026
The rest of the team did not acknowledge him and I was seething, but fortunately I decided to wait before dealing with him.
From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026
Uche Okeke memorializes the Aba Women’s War of 1929, one of the first major anticolonial uprisings in Nigeria, with a throng of seething figures, their strength and determination reflected in vigorous brushstrokes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026
In Guillermo Cienfuegos’ enlivening, if at times unsteady, production at A Noise Within, the role is played by Ann Noble, who forgoes the outdated hunchback but adopts a seething, slithering, perversely seductive aura of menace.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2026
With a seething press of soldiers behind him, Darkclaw stepped up to the waiting diggers.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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.
