- 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.
Its most famous patron, Ernest Hemingway, sits in statue form alone at the bar in the musty, sweltering darkness.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
We've taken a look at how the sweltering weather has left its mark on landscapes across the continent.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
The night before the run, Mehta took a five-hour train journey to a sweltering, remote location for the test, sleeping in an open field.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
My fiancé and I spent a sweltering summer in New York City touring fifth-floor walkup apartments, and then packing up our belongings and moving them to a new place a few blocks away.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
If you're curious, that balance point was a sweltering 41°C. I did a full diagnostic on the regulator and the oxygenator, and I'm happy to report both are working perfectly.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
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.
