smolder

verb

variants or smoulder
Definition of smoldernext
1
as in to anger
to be excited or emotionally stirred up with anger She smoldered when first learning of her son's misbehavior at school, but had calmed down by the time he arrived home.

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2
as in to blaze
to be on fire usually with smoke but few flames They look forward to those long summer nights telling stories beside a smoldering campfire.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of smolder When smoldering tensions over Texas flared into the Mexican-American War in 1846, the Bear Flag Revolt was launched. — Literary Hub, 29 July 2026 West of Madrid, the ground is still smoldering days after wildfires moved through. — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 27 July 2026 What had been a smoldering issue within the tech world burst into plain view this week after Moonshot AI, a Chinese startup, unveiled an AI model with the technical prowess of many American ones — but which can be accessed at a fraction of the cost. — Rob Wile, NBC news, 23 July 2026 On Tuesday, however, firefighters confronted a flare-up in denser fuel pockets where flames had continued to smolder after the rain. — Andrew Graham, Sacbee.com, 16 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for smolder
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smolder
  1. anger
  2. blaze
  3. snarl
  4. burn
  5. steam
  6. flame
  7. snap
  8. glow
Verb
  • Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich faces a fight for political survival in elections in October after angering his fellow West Bank settlers by voting not to punish ultra-Orthodox Jews who refuse to serve in the military.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 7 Aug. 2026
  • The actor also objected to being a locker room scene that required full-frontal nudity, which allegedly angered Russell, TMZ reported.
    — Martha Ross, Mercury News, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of anger
Verb
  • But on Monday one of the bigger beasts of Wall Street, Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jan Hatzius, came out guns blazing at Warsh.
    — Jim Edwards, Fortune, 5 Aug. 2026
  • In the film, his signature use of colors— blazing red, forest green, deep blue, golden yellow, lavender pink — and intimate chamber-drama staging transform domestic interiors into spaces of moral clarity.
    — Vanessa Rampton, STAT, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of blaze
Verb
  • WestJet canceled 495 flights Sunday, snarling travel plans in Canada in the middle of a long holiday weekend.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Aug. 2026
  • After the upheaval of the coronavirus pandemic, followed by the writers’ and actors’ strikes that snarled the production pipeline, many industry observers feared that Zoomers were a lost demographic.
    — Sophia Nguyen, The Atlantic, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of snarl
Verb
  • Aerial images obtained by CNN show entire residential blocks burned and the surrounding vegetation charred.
    — Karina Tsui, CNN Money, 4 Aug. 2026
  • In the first two months of this wildfire season, nearly 500,000 hectares of land have burned across Europe.
    — , CNBC, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of burn
Verb
  • Sometimes holding a dispenser over a steaming hot beverage can cause condensation to form around the pouring spout.
    — BestReviews, Chicago Tribune, 3 Aug. 2026
  • The chiles are tumbled over high heat to scorch the skins, then dumped out into a box to steam.
    — Sean Timberlake, Sacbee.com, 30 July 2026
Definition of steam
Verb
  • The lift had to be powerful enough to blast the massive orb into the sky, and the shell had to explode at just the right moment, without raining flaming debris.
    — Paige Williams, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
  • There are not a lot of good places to have a classic steakhouse experience in Oakland – with a stylish and luxurious atmosphere, sizzle and smoke of a flaming grill, true reverence for meat.
    — John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 28 July 2026
Definition of flame
Verb
  • In the guest book, in 2024, a guest creatively wrote a six-entry (three days and three nights) account of their stay there, a descent into madness at the hands of the structure’s steady creaking and the sounds of twigs snapping in the woods below.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Aug. 2026
  • What had once been an intimate gathering of familiar faces gradually became more performative, as attendees increasingly dressed in hopes of being snapped by street style photographers.
    — Kelsey Stewart, InStyle, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of snap
Verb
  • Her glowing skin, minimal makeup, and refined hairstyle helped define an ideal of beauty that has endured for generations.
    — Colleen Sullivan, InStyle, 6 Aug. 2026
  • After all the glowing testaments to his character, the apartment was startlingly nondescript.
    — Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of glow

Browse Nearby Words

smoky
smolder
smoldered
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Cite this Entry

“Smolder.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smolder. Accessed 9 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of smolder for Spanish Speakers

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