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

Images of the smoldering rubble, of Manhattan streets blanketed in ash and the sheets of paper that remained of so many working lives, of American flags hung from windows and car antennas, continued to fill our screens. — Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2026

The documents released Tuesday showed city officials at the time knew conditions at the long-smoldering pit made the air there unsafe to breathe, despite repeatedly assuring New Yorkers the opposite. — Lila Dominus, CNN Money, 10 Sep. 2026

Under the influence of smoldering Scorpio, Venus possesses a magnetic, secretive and complex aura, making everything from our relationships to our investments all the more consuming and intense. — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 10 Sep. 2026

The rubble of the World Trade Center was still smoldering 25 years ago when New Yorkers went to work creating memorials to the dead. — Robert W. Snyder, New York Daily News, 6 Sep. 2026

Shortly before midnight, the crew beat out a fifty-acre fire that was smoldering delicately through lush green tundra. — M. R. O’Connor, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026

Sun and high air temperatures add environmental heat, while flames and smoldering fuels contribute radiant heat. — Julian L. Gallegos, The Conversation, 27 Aug. 2026

Emergency crews worked under the threat of additional strikes to put out the fire, and had to cut through the flooring between two building levels to extinguish smoldering materials, as per Ukrainian government platform United24. — News Desk, Artforum, 25 Aug. 2026

But the protege turned pitmaster wanted to put his own riff on the dish that looks like a smoldering cigar, originally a playful transformation of the Cuban sandwich. — Louisa Kung Liu Chu, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026