- 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.
It can be hot in October, but it’s generally not this sweltering for this long, according to Swain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
The town is accessible from a battered highway that cuts through the flat, sweltering landscape.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
With Europe sweltering through summer heat waves, the window between culinary treasure and golden puddle has never been narrower.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Locals have complained that the heat generated by the centres made already sweltering summer temperatures even worse.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
When I dive into the water, I go from sweltering hot to nice and cool.
From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
