smoldered

verb

variants or smouldered
past tense of smolder
1
as in snarled
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 blazed
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 smoldered Prosecutors say the blaze allegedly started by Rinderknecht smoldered underground for days before exploding into the wildfire that killed 12 people, destroyed thousands of structures across Los Angeles County, and burned more than 23,000 acres. — Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 26 June 2026 Prosecutors said the Lachman fire smoldered underground for a week before exploding into the deadly Palisades fire. — Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2026 In 2024, a Lineage facility in Washington state caught fire and smoldered for two months, Northwest Public Broadcasting reported. — Holly Yan, CNN Money, 22 June 2026 More specifically, the ’90s chemistry queen Rene Russo, who has smoldered onscreen with everyone from Clint Eastwood and Mel Gibson to Pierce Brosnan and John Travolta. — Jesse Hassenger, Entertainment Weekly, 18 June 2026 Smith beamed a luminous smile as Brosnan smoldered for the camera on the red carpet in 1995. — John Russell, PEOPLE, 16 May 2026 Crews work to uncover and cool unused coal which has smoldered for 20 years near Florence, Colorado. — Logan Smith, CBS News, 11 Apr. 2026 Her decision to stop the publication of a 60 Minutes piece about a Salvadoran prison that had been cleared by others at the network sparked an internal fire that smoldered for weeks until the story eventually aired. — Max Tani, semafor.com, 30 Mar. 2026 For about a week, the fire smoldered at low intensity, doing its work on a patch of roughly 120 acres. — New York Times, 16 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smoldered
  1. snarled
  2. blazed
  3. angered
  4. burned
  5. snapped
  6. glowed
  7. steamed
  8. flickered
Verb
  • The ensuing traffic jam sent reverberations far and wide and snarled thousands of people.
    — Doug Turnbull, AJC.com, 30 Aug. 2026
  • The horns section snarled, the background vocalists riffed, and Olivia picked up multiple instruments herself – the tambourine, guitar, shakers, and the piano.
    — Sidney Madden, VIBE.com, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of snarled
Verb
  • The plight of immigrants is one of the defining moral issues of our time, and more and more big name musicians are following the trail Parton blazed so long ago.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The trail to understanding fluids as the product of the microscopic world was blazed, ironically, by physicists thinking about some of reality’s biggest scales.
    — Charlie Wood, Quanta Magazine, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of blazed
Verb
  • That will make affordable tickets more difficult to find, especially as the tournament reports registering record-breaking visits, and already has angered fans and some players.
    — Jordan Valinsky, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2026
  • That angered Michigan Democrats who were frustrated with El-Sayed, and brought Jeffries and other Democrats into the fray, putting the candidate El-Sayed had invested the most in on the defensive.
    — David Weigel, semafor.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of angered
Verb
  • Byblow says earth tones will be major this season — think rusty red, forest green, burnt orange, and chocolate brown.
    — Jamie Allison Sanders, PEOPLE, 30 Aug. 2026
  • But full blocks of houses along roads leading into the forest burned to the ground.
    — Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of burned
Verb
  • The victory snapped a streak that had beguiled the second-year franchise even in the midst of an unprecedented level of success for an expansion team in the WNBA.
    — Christian Babcock, Mercury News, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Cramer’s comments Tuesday came shortly after Nvidia snapped a seven-session losing streak, its longest slump since September 2022.
    — Alexa LoMonaco, CNBC, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of snapped
Verb
  • Inspired by an art show that was itself inspired by the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel, the club featured palm trees, polka-dot banquettes, murals of the hotel and pool, and a NO VACANCY sign outside that glowed perpetually into the night.
    — Derek C. Blasberg, Vanity Fair, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Scientists began describing minerals that glowed in the dark as phosphors in the Middle Ages.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of glowed
Verb
  • The sweet alliums are cooked with cilantro and extra-virgin olive oil until tender, then tucked into thin dumpling wrappers that are folded into half-moons and steamed for exactly 10 minutes — any longer and the dough could break.
    — Warren Rojas, Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2026
  • There’s arguably nothing more annoying than rushing out the door to an event, only to realize your dress is wrinkled and needs to be steamed.
    — Ali Faccenda, InStyle, 23 July 2026
Definition of steamed
Verb
  • Inexplicably, the lights flickered during the groom-mother dance.
    — Anna Raskind, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026
  • While lights flickered, music blared and fans cheered, the goal was ruled off; Harris was initially deemed offside.
    — PJ Green, Kansas City Star, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of flickered

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smolder
smoldered
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Cite this Entry

“Smoldered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smoldered. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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