sulfurous

adjective sul·fu·rous \ ˈsəl-fə-rəs , -fyə- also (especially for sense 1a) ˌsəl-ˈfyu̇r-əs \

variants: or chiefly British sulphurous

Usage guide: Is it sulfur or sulphur?

Definition of sulfurous

1 a : of, relating to, or containing sulfur especially with a lower valence than sulfuric compounds

sulfurous esters

b : resembling or emanating from sulfur and especially burning sulfur

2 a : of, relating to, or dealing with the fire of hell : infernal

b : scathing, virulent

sulfurous denunciations

c : profane, blasphemous

sulfurous language

—

sulfurously

adverb

—

sulfurousness

noun

See sulfurous defined for English-language learners

See sulfurous defined for kids

Is it sulfur or sulphur?

The spelling sulfur predominates in U.S. technical usage, while both sulfur and sulphur are common in general usage. British usage tends to favor sulphur for all applications. The same pattern is seen in most of the words derived from sulfur.

Recent Examples of sulfurous from the Web

While the immediate area surrounding Novarupta is not populous, the 1912 eruption formed an ash cloud that rained sulfurous ash across southern Alaska and parts of Canada.

— mahita gajanan, Time, "8 of the World’s Most Dangerous Volcanoes, According to Experts," 6 June 2018
High-velocity jets of steam, along with sulfurous volcanic fumes and small gritty rock debris, began to blow out from the pit in May of that year.

— wendell duffield, Scientific American, "Kilauea’s Next Eruptions May Mirror a Big One in Its Past," 15 May 2018
Also, his caustic loathing of his father, David (Hugo Weaving, sulfurous and brilliant), whose ashes Patrick will collect in New York.

— john anderson, WSJ, "‘Patrick Melrose’ Review: The Right Way to Do Wrong," 10 May 2018
The vulture seemed to have sniffed out a few sulfurous molecules from hundreds of feet overhead.

— ned rozell, Anchorage Daily News, "Why some birds smell like tangerines, and others smell like lavender," 28 Apr. 2018
At the summit, one crater spits sulfurous clouds of gas.

— christopher bagley, Condé Nast Traveler, "In Mount Etna's Shadow, Catania Is Raw, Authentic Italy," 8 Feb. 2018
In March, a sulfurous dispute erupted over the fate of Alaa Alsiddiq, an Emirati dissident who has been living in Doha since 2013.

— written by declan walsh; photographs by tomas munita, New York Times, "Tiny, Wealthy Qatar Goes Its Own Way, and Pays for It," 22 Jan. 2018
As sulfurous tendrils of smoke and ash swirled in the air above Cahuenga Boulevard, the studio started filling with a swap meet's worth of televisions and stereos.

— jeff weiss, chicagotribune.com, "25 years later, Dr. Dre's 'The Chronic' remains rap's world-building masterpiece," 15 Dec. 2017
Neither the kimchi fried rice, which tasted like ketchup and cabbage, nor the kimchi pancake did much to showcase kimchi’s sulfurous punch.

— mike sutter, San Antonio Express-News, "Review: Korean cafe serving up real Seoul food at Seoul Asian Market & Cafe," 14 Dec. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sulfurous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.