- present participle of swelter.
sweltering
Americanadjective
-
suffering oppressive heat.
-
characterized by oppressive heat; sultry.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sweltering
Explanation
Sweltering means uncomfortably hot. Walking home from work on a sweltering day will leave you sweating. A sweltering summer afternoon might cause you to turn on the air conditioning in your apartment or take a cool shower. To be sweltering is more than merely being hot — it's the kind of damp, intense heat that sends everyone to the pool or beach for some relief. The verb swelter came first, from the now obsolete word swelten, "be faint from heat," rooted in the Old English sweltan, "to die or perish."
Vocabulary lists containing sweltering
The Sweltering Words of Summer
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The Glass Castle
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Term-ometer: Synonyms for "Hot"
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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.
But as Southern California’s focus shifts to the sweltering heat expected for the day and the rest of the week, an expert noted that soot and particulate matter may not be dispersing normally.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 6, 2026
Looming over the celebrations is a heat dome that brought sweltering temperatures to much of the country this week.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 4, 2026
It's a sweltering Saturday in Colorado Springs as 33 new recruits, some of them baby-faced, line up to be sworn in at the Air Force Academy's Falcon Stadium.
From BBC • Jul. 4, 2026
And as Europe braces for sweltering conditions, millions of Americans celebrating the July Fourth holiday weekend are already being affected by prolonged extreme heat and high humidity in parts of the central and eastern US.
From BBC • Jul. 3, 2026
I tried not to think about Mr. Pirzada, in his lime-scented overcoat, connected to the unruly, sweltering world we had viewed a few hours ago in our bright, carpeted living room.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
