sweltering

[ swel-ter-ing ]

adjective

1. suffering oppressive heat.
2. characterized by oppressive heat; sultry.

sweltering

/ ˈswɛltərɪŋ /

adjective

1. oppressively hot and humid

   a sweltering day

Derived Forms

• ˈswelteringly, adverb

Other Words From

• swelter·ing·ly adverb
• un·swelter·ing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sweltering¹

First recorded in 1565–75; swelter + -ing ²

Example Sentences

It was just before 11 on a sweltering summer night, when he knew he could find what he was looking for a few blocks from the Las Vegas Strip.

From Washington Post

Whether working out in the heat, sweating up a storm on a hike or just walking around by yourself on a warm day, you need a pair of headphones that won’t give up after a few sweltering sessions.

From Time

That run reached its climax inside a sweltering, dangerously packed Los Angeles Sports Arena in late August when the band made the dozens of others playing FYF Fest irrelevant with a performance that practically suspended time.

From Washington Post

The sweltering heat expected in Death Valley comes on the heels of its hottest June on record.

From Washington Post

Heat and drought combine to create volatile fire conditionsIn the meantime, the sweltering heat, low humidity and moisture-starved land surface make for dangerous background conditions for the spread of fires.

From Washington Post

Miller traces his irreverent and subversive streak to a psychedelic experience during the particularly sweltering summer of 1991.

From The Daily Beast

Basosila Botala is wearing a blue rain jacket despite the sweltering heat.

From The Daily Beast

With sweltering hot temperatures, constant sweat was normal.

From The Daily Beast

The urban population abandons the sweltering cities and heads to the beach for the month.

From The Daily Beast

I've never seen a white body left in the street for four hours in the sweltering heat.

From The Daily Beast

Rain storms, hot winds, sweltering intervals of intolerable heat—these were vagaries of nature and might be endured.

From Project Gutenberg

With the approach of midday the wind had more and more fallen, it was now sweltering hot and the air trembled in the sunshine.

From Project Gutenberg

Far in the sultry west was an occasional play of lightning, the hot eye of day peeping back into the sweltering night.

From Project Gutenberg

The dank, decaying vegetation, the dimness, the very airlessness of the sweltering valley—all this is not merely heat.

From Project Gutenberg

At high noon on the equator, the temperature reached a sweltering 180° absolute; it became somewhat chillier toward the poles.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• airless
• baking
• burning
• humid
• oppressive
• scorching
• sizzling
• stifling
• stuffy
• sultry
• torrid