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
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dense smoke resulting from slow or suppressed combustion.
-
a smoldering fire.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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smoldersimple
-
smolderssimple
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have smolderedperfect
-
has smolderedperfect
-
am smolderingprogressive
-
are smolderingprogressive
-
is smolderingprogressive
-
have been smolderingperfect progressive
-
has been smolderingperfect progressive
Past
-
smolderedsimple
-
had smolderedperfect
-
was smolderingprogressive
-
were smolderingprogressive
-
had been smolderingperfect progressive
Future
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
Explanation
When a fire is barely burning, it's smoldering. Fires can smolder for days without anyone's knowing, then burst into a conflagration that gets the fire department sirens wailing all over town. Smolder is a word that is often used figuratively to describe situations or people's feelings. You might say tensions between the North and South smoldered for years before the outbreak of the Civil War. And if your school cafeteria eliminates tater tots from the menu, students' smoldering dissatisfaction with the menu options might erupt into all-out food fight.
Vocabulary lists containing smolder
List 8
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Hatchet
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Touching Spirit Bear
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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 nerdy Spencer is now Dwayne Johnson’s Dr. Smolder Bravestone, while football player Fridge now shares the body of the brilliant but petite Franklin “Moose” Finbar, played by Kevin Hart.
From Time • Jun. 29, 2017
Passions Smolder at Factory for Bombs “Bomb Girls” has a serviceable premise: a group of women bond while working at a Canadian munitions factory in the early years of World War II.
From New York Times • Sep. 10, 2012
"Smolder" is an Old English word meaning "smoke."
From Stories from Tagore by Tagore, Rabindranath
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.
