smolder
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to burn without flame; undergo slow or suppressed combustion.
-
to exist or continue in a suppressed state or without outward demonstration.
Hatred smoldered beneath a polite surface.
-
to display repressed feelings, as of indignation, anger, or the like.
to smolder with rage.
noun
-
dense smoke resulting from slow or suppressed combustion.
-
a smoldering fire.
verb
Other Word Forms
- unsmoldering adjective
Etymology
Origin of smolder
1275–1325; (noun) Middle English smolder smoky vapor, dissimilated variant of smorther smother; (v.) Middle English (as present participle smolderende ), derivative of the noun
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 a result, they may overlook slower, less visible fires that smolder deep within peat and organic soils.
From Science Daily • Mar. 4, 2026
"Peatlands and organic soils can smolder for weeks to years, releasing enormous amounts of ancient carbon."
From Science Daily • Mar. 4, 2026
Passions still smolder below the surface, but there is not enough oxygen to let them flame into life.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2026
They allege the state allowed “embers from the Lachman Fire to smolder, rekindle and then re-ignite in dry brush” as the National Weather Service warned of dangerous Santa Ana winds.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 26, 2025
The orange peels would smolder in there, and the men would hunker down around the cans and watch the smoke seep out the holes.
From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston
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.
