variants
or smoulders
1
as in snarls
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 blazes
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
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Recent Examples of smolders
Throughout the compilation of clips, Kristy smiles and smolders in the mirror while using a bottle of the luxury brand's Libre Berry Crush perfume.
—
Zoey Lyttle, PEOPLE, 27 Jan. 2026
Blood orange and saffron ignite the air, myrrh smolders beneath, and the woods hum with market heat.
—Adam Hurly, Robb Report, 16 Oct. 2025
Zoey Lyttle, PEOPLE, 27 Jan. 2026
Blood orange and saffron ignite the air, myrrh smolders beneath, and the woods hum with market heat.
—Adam Hurly, Robb Report, 16 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smolders
Verb
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The council in 2024 rejected a 498-unit apartment complex nearby in Deer Canyon over similar concerns related to evacuations and the area’s proneness to blazes.—
Victoria Le,
Oc Register,
14 Jan. 2026
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In another, a knockout image featuring two children resting on their backs, sunlight blazes with an almost divisive intent, turning one child’s eyeglasses opaque with its glare while leaving his friend’s face in shadow.—
Dawn Chan,
New Yorker,
6 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Then, Lim steams the breastmilk in an espresso machine before adding the matcha into the drink.—
Hannah Sacks,
PEOPLE,
15 Jan. 2026
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Humidity often corrodes cables and steams camera lenses.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Your body burns additional calories in the cold from shivering.—
Kaelyn Lynch,
Outside,
23 Jan. 2026
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According to Amnesty International, Israel used white phosphorus, a highly reactive chemical that burns at extremely high temperatures when exposed to air.—
Josiane Yazbeck,
The Conversation,
22 Jan. 2026
Verb
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What angers me is thinking about what could have been.—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
12 Dec. 2025
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And nothing angers the Survivor gods more than reality TV hubris.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The river tumbles and seethes through 278 miles of Grand Canyon National Park, taking its geologic time in carving a trench now deeper than a mile.—
Brandon Loomis,
AZCentral.com,
15 Dec. 2025
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This is why Dijon’s language works best as sound, not narrative—his rangy, raspy voice seethes and triumphs, mocks and threatens; there’s no world in which his polygonal perspective can be discerned from a lyric sheet.—
Brady Brickner-Wood,
New Yorker,
16 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The video shared on Instagram shows vehicles parked on the Margaret McDermott Bridge as the countdown at Reunion Tower glows in the background.—
Timia Cobb
Breaking News Reporter,
Dallas Morning News,
29 Jan. 2026
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To complete the warm golden hues, the automatic movement is topped with a 22-karat gold rotor, which glows through the caseback.—
Carol Besler,
Forbes.com,
20 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The tree snaps vertically to relieve the pressure.—
Ahmad Bajjey,
CBS News,
23 Jan. 2026
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Director Mohammed Ali Naqvi’s film uses drone footage and re-enactments to tell the story of eight passengers dangling from a cable car over a ravine after a wire snaps.—
Brian Welk,
IndieWire,
21 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Those flickers or flashes were used to show intrusive thoughts or moments of wonder.—
Destiny Jackson,
Deadline,
13 Jan. 2026
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Private sector confidence flickers but has not fully ignited.—
Dewardric L. McNeal,
CNBC,
31 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Smolders.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smolders. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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