fume

1 of 2

noun

ˈfyüm 

1

a

: a smoke, vapor, or gas especially when irritating or offensive

engine exhaust fumes

b

: an often noxious suspension of particles in a gas (such as air)

2

: something (such as an emotion) that impairs one's reasoning

Sometimes his head gets a little hot with the fumes of patriotism …

—Matthew Arnold

3

: a state of excited irritation or anger

—usually used in the phrase in a fume

fumy

ˈfyü-mē 

adjective

see also:

on fumes

fume

2 of 2

verb

fumed; fuming

transitive verb

1

: to expose to or treat with fumes

2

: to give off in fumes

fuming thick black smoke

3

: to utter while in a state of excited irritation or anger

"You never listen!" he fumed.

intransitive verb

1

a

: to emit fumes

b

: to be in a state of excited irritation or anger

fretted and fumed over the delay

2

: to rise in or as if in fumes

Synonyms of fume

Verb

• steam
• rage
• burn
• foam
• storm
• seethe

Examples of fume in a Sentence

Verb

She's still fuming about not being invited to the party.

We sat there waiting for him, fuming with anger at the delay.

“They made these changes without even asking our opinion,” one employee fumed.

The volcano was fuming thick black smoke.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Here, fumes from factories, exhaust from traffic and dust from construction produce a toxic mix that makes breathing an act of endurance for its 700,000 residents. —Esha Mitra, CNN Money, 1 Apr. 2026

Don’t be in a hurry, as this grace period will keep your home from being filled with toxic fumes from the new installation. —Louise Parks, Martha Stewart, 30 Mar. 2026

Verb

Retired engineer JoAnn Morgan is still fuming that the last three Apollo moon landings were canceled under President Richard Nixon's watch because of budget cuts, risk concerns and shifting priorities. —Arkansas Online, 31 Mar. 2026

Much of the profit surge came after customers were charged for wildfires that the utility itself caused, fuming protesters said. —Teri Sforza, Oc Register, 27 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, "smoke, exhalation," borrowed from Anglo-French fum, going back to Latin fūmus "smoke, fumes," going back to Indo-European *d^huh₂-mó- "smoke, vapor" (whence also Old Church Slavic dymŭ "smoke," Lithuanian dū́mai, Sanskrit dhūmáḥ, and probably Greek thȳmós "spirit, mind, courage"), noun derivative from a verbal base *d^hu̯eh₂- or *d^heu̯h₂- "produce smoke by burning," whence Greek thýō, thýein "to sacrifice," Latin suffiō, suffīre "to subject to smoke, fumigate," Old Church Slavic dujǫ, duti "to blow" and perhaps Tocharian B twās- "kindle, ignite"

Note: Also allied are Hittite tuhhae-, perhaps "to smoke out, drive out by smoke," from an unattested noun derivative (earlier glossed as "gasp, cough"; see A. Kloeckhorst, Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon, Brill, 2008); and Old High German toum "vapor, smoke," Middle Dutch doom "vapor, steam," going back to Germanic *dauma-, presumably from an o-grade derivative *d^hou̯h₂-mo-. Greek thȳmós is an exact phonetic correspondent to the other words, though the sense divergence suggests influence from some phonetically similar base of different meaning.

Verb

in part verbal derivative of fume entry 1, in part continuing Middle English fumen "to fumigate," borrowed from Anglo-French fumer "to cause to smoke, emit smoke," going back to Latin fūmāre "to emit smoke," derivative of fūmus "smoke" — more at fume entry 1.

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Phrases Containing fume

• in a fume

Rhymes for fume

• blume
• boom
• broom
• doom
• flume
• gloom
• glume
• groom
• loom
• plume
• rheum
• room

Kids Definition

fume

1 of 2 noun

ˈfyüm 

: a disagreeable smoke, vapor, or gas

—usually used in plural

acid fumes

fumy

ˈfyü-mē 

adjective

fume

2 of 2 verb

fumed; fuming

1

: to expose to or treat with fumes

2

: to give off fumes

3

: to show bad temper or anger