SMOULDER Synonyms: 103 Similar and Opposite Words

smolder

verb

variants or smoulder

Definition of smolder

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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Dissimilar Words

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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Dissimilar Words

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 Oklahoma County commissioners are asking the State Auditor & Inspector's Office for a two-stage investigative audit of accounting errors reported by the County Clerk's Office, a crisis that exploded in recent weeks after smoldering for months. — Richard Mize, Oklahoman, 18 Sep. 2026 Meet the winners of Allure’s 2026 Best of Beauty Awards in the competitive category of Eye Makeup—and get ready to smolder. — Elizabeth Siegel, Allure, 17 Sep. 2026 So here was Hynde, an American girl with a smoldering stare, and her three British male back-up musicians. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 14 Sep. 2026 Rounding out the crew was Smith as smoldering ingenue Kelly Garrett (Smith originally was cast as Sabrina, until Jackson decided the role was better for her). — Michael Callahan, HollywoodReporter, 11 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for smolder

Recent Examples of Synonyms for smolder

Verb

The widespread use of arrests, tear gas and riot-control weapons against teenagers is fueling defiance and angering some parents and teachers.

— NICOLAS GARRIGA, Arkansas Online, 7 Oct. 2026
Lai and his Democratic Progressive Party champion Taiwan’s separate identity from China, a position that frequently angers Beijing, which views the island as Chinese territory.

— Reuters, NBC news, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of anger

Verb

Hacking palm trees In blazing midday tropical heat, Katie Baur saws the trunk of a young coconut palm.

— Lauren Sommer, NPR, 13 Oct. 2026
On their way to the Bahamas in 1940, where the duke would serve as governor, Simpson sported one of her new creations, a blazing Cartier flamingo brooch, encrusted with diamonds, emeralds, citrines, rubies, and sapphires.

— Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of blaze

Verb

Kerry McCoy’s guitar juices up a mid-song gallop by abruptly pivoting from big and noisy to compressed and snarling; at the climax, everything cuts out for a second to spotlight a Daniel Tracy drum fill.

— Patrick Lyons, Pitchfork, 13 Oct. 2026
Stepping into the band’s lead guitarist role was Nick Johnston, a forceful presence delivering crisp musical phrases that could be fittingly elegant or snarling.

— Steve Appleford, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of snarl

Verb

The house took eight years to build on the property where the couple’s previous home burned during the 2018 Woolsey fire, along with Albuquerque’s studio, archive and many of her paintings.

— Jane Horowitz, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026
The wall's stonework showed signs of fire damage, while archaeologists also uncovered burned seeds and the remains of a charred wooden building nearby.

— Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of burn

Verb

Shawn, his parents, and the stranger were sitting around the dining table, their bowls of rice steaming before them, when the knock came.

— Rachel Heng, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
As America steams headlong into November, working-class folks are still at loggerheads with its political class.

— Jim Beaugez, Rolling Stone, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of steam

Verb

The flaming tower is part of a component most often known in Russian by the acronym ELOU-AVT, shorthand for an Electric Desalting and Atmospheric-Vacuum Distillation Unit.

— Jarrett Ley, Washington Post, 9 Oct. 2026
When SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket exploded over the Caribbean last year, the internet lit up with videos from airline passengers, island tourists and locals showing flaming debris shooting across the sky.

— Heather Vogell, ProPublica, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of flame

Verb

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff Neiburg joins hosts Matt Weyrich and Sam Cohn to give a scouting report on the man who will be snapping the ball to Lamar Jackson for the rest of the season, if not longer.

— Matt Weyrich, Baltimore Sun, 8 Oct. 2026
Mitchell also drove in Sal Frelick with Milwaukee’s first run as the Brewers snapped their 12-game postseason road losing streak since 2018 and reached the team's fifth League Championship Series.

— ABC News, ABC News, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of snap

Browse Nearby Words

smoky

smolder

smoldered

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Cite this Entry

Style

“Smolder.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smolder. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of smolder

verb

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