Synonyms of smoldering

smoldering 1 of 2

adjective

variants or smouldering

as in flickering

being on fire with no visible flames but often with much smoke

All that was left of the campfire were smoldering embers.

Related Words

• flickering
• burning
• glowing
• flaming
• charred
• burned
• flaring
• blazing
• aglow
• live
• fiery
• ignited
• lit
• aflame
• inflamed
• afire
• scorching
• kindled
• searing
• sizzling
• roasting
• alight
• combusting
• broiling
• scorched
• red-hot
• ablaze
• conflagrant
• scalding
• hot
• piping hot
• singed
• seared
• incinerated

Dissimilar Words

• dead
• extinguished
• smothered
• stamped (out)
• choked
• quenched
• damped
• snuffed (out)
• suffocated
• doused

smoldering

2 of 2

verb

variants or smouldering

present participle of smolder

1

as in snarling

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.

Related Words

• snarling
• steaming
• burning
• snapping
• seething
• angering
• storming
• foaming
• raging
• sputtering
• flaring (up)
• bristling
• venting
• fuming
• flipping (out)
• rampaging
• blowing up
• fulminating
• vituperating
• blustering
• raving
• teeing off
• ranting
• carrying on
• stewing
• taking on
• fretting
• chafing

Dissimilar Words

• soothing
• containing
• suppressing
• checking
• collecting
• curbing
• restraining
• stifling
• smothering
• composing
• swallowing
• choking (back)
• repressing
• subduing
• strangling
• pacifying
• appeasing
• tempering
• allaying
• moderating
• cooling
• relaxing
• reining
• pocketing
• easing
• settling
• calming
• quieting
• toning (down)
• quelling
• letting up
• stilling
• hushing

2

as in blazing

to be on fire usually with smoke but few flames

They look forward to those long summer nights telling stories beside a smoldering campfire.

Related Words

• blazing
• burning
• flaming
• glowing
• flickering
• sputtering
• combusting
• igniting
• sparkling
• glistening
• sparking
• kindling
• gleaming
• firing
• charring
• shimmering
• melting
• scorching
• enkindling
• roasting
• glittering
• lighting (up)
• cooking
• wavering
• baking
• sweltering
• catching
• broiling
• deflagrating
• shining
• flaring (up)
• twinkling
• radiating
• glimmering
• glaring
• flashing
• beaming
• beating (down)
• brightening
• scintillating
• glinting
• guttering

Dissimilar Words

• extinguishing
• darkening
• dimming

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of smoldering

Adjective

Casting two of the most smoldering contemporary actors on the planet clearly stacks the deck, and carries on the long tradition of pairing a dashing figure of brooding handsomeness (Laurence Olivier, Ralph Fiennes) with a breathless screen beauty (Merle Oberon, Juliette Binoche). — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 11 Feb. 2026

Verb

The inspectors found large piles of waste and smoldering litter. — Finnegan Belleau, Chicago Tribune, 19 Aug. 2026

By the afternoon, portions of the building were still burning and smoldering as firefighters worked to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading to nearby businesses and structures. — Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 19 Aug. 2026

Daemon struggles to his feet, dazed, and begins cleaving his way through the smouldering city. — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026

Wildfires in southwestern France have scorched forests four times the size of Paris, forcing about 224,000 residents and vacationers to flee coastal resorts as smoldering hot spots persist. — Mark Carlson, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2026

Nils Seval is a surf instructor, but this week he's been spraying down flareups that emerge from blazes still smoldering underground even in areas where big flames have been extinguished. — CBS News, 30 July 2026

Photographer Sergen Sezgin captured one such scene firsthand, as the moon rose over a smouldering hillside close to the Turkish city of Balıkesir, a few hundred miles south of Tekirdağ. — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 30 July 2026

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