smoulder
Americanverb (used without object)
verb
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to burn slowly without flame, usually emitting smoke
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(esp of anger, etc) to exist in a suppressed or half-suppressed state
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to have strong repressed or half repressed feelings, esp anger
noun
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dense smoke, as from a smouldering fire
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a smouldering fire
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of smoulder
C14: from smolder (n), of obscure origin
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.
Once people realized that the authorities had not acted in their best interest, resentment began to smoulder.
From Scientific American • Nov. 17, 2022
Smaller ones than in the Sierra de la Culebra continued to smoulder on Monday to the east in Navarra and Catalonia.
From Reuters • Jun. 20, 2022
His simmer and smoulder had aged well into a potent maturity – Connery endured endless “single malt” analogies from well-meaning interviewers – and that baldness, once feared, looked like authentic masculinity.
From The Guardian • Aug. 25, 2020
According to filmmaker Paul Mothersole, who has studied the tragedy for 15 years, the film operator spotted a reel of nitrocellulose film which had begun to smoulder.
From BBC • Dec. 30, 2019
In the centre of the town the bonfire was beginning to smoulder.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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.
