smolder

verb

variants or smoulder
Definition of smoldernext
1
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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2
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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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 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 The fire in the High Fens, which stretches across the border with Germany, is smoldering atop a much-bloodied battlefield where Nazis fought Allied troops. — Sam McNeil, Los Angeles Times, 24 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 See All Example Sentences for smolder
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smolder
  1. anger
  2. blaze
  3. snarl
  4. burn
  5. steam
  6. flame
  7. snap
  8. glow
Verb
  • Sánchez is facing mounting scrutiny amid a prolonged humanitarian crisis in Ceuta, where the flood of thousands of migrants has angered residents in the tiny community, which is ill-equipped to handle such an influx.
    — Suman Naishadham, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Prosecutors argued Monday that Kading’s disclosures angered Davis.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of anger
Verb
  • Instead, his new Egyptian colleague cut inside from the edge of the box and blazed a shot wildly over the bar.
    — Elias Burke, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2026
  • This clearly sounds like a blazing hot take that will chill soon and embarrass often.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of blaze
Verb
  • The hourslong closure snarled the morning commute into Sacramento, shutting down westbound Highway 50 between Hazel Avenue and Sunrise Boulevard.
    — Daniel Hunt, Sacbee.com, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Photographs from the scene show crunched cars snarled in chunks of the wire fence that used to separate the airport from the road.
    — David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of snarl
Verb
  • Jackson’s availability was curbed by red cards at Chelsea — in Bruges, a barge and shirt pull with defender Han-Beom Lee suggested those flickers of fury and confrontation still burn.
    — Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • On a cold night in November 2011, in a field outside Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine, a gang of thugs stormed a Soviet scientific research institute, beat and humiliated the staff and burned the place to the ground.
    — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of burn
Verb
  • Ground meat almost immediately releases its own juices into a warm skillet, causing the meat to steam instead of sear.
    — Kate Williams, AJC.com, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Their crabs are steamed, frozen and packed into boxes to be shipped to Sri Lanka, where workers remove the meat by hand.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of steam
Verb
  • For one thing, the flaming robot arms also kept smashing into things.
    — Jesse Coburn, ProPublica, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Even Miami locals are guilty of thinking a tiny little cap will effectively shield their faces from the wrath of the flaming Florida sun.
    — Mariana Zapata, Travel + Leisure, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of flame
Verb
  • Some stakes eventually snapped under the weight of the changing components, further reducing the effectiveness of the collection mesh.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 4 Sep. 2026
  • The measuring device is a small disc that snaps into the back of a person’s underwear.
    — Taylor Nicioli, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of snap
Verb
  • Still, given the national attention given last winter to the air conditioning not working properly in an Angel Stadium weight room, Neto said the evaluation from the Rams’ locker room was glowing.
    — Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2026
  • The best body scrubs are a cheat code to achieving healthy, glowing skin fast.
    — Alanna Martine Kilkeary, Glamour, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of glow

Browse Nearby Words

smoky
smolder
smoldered
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Cite this Entry

“Smolder.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smolder. Accessed 9 Sep. 2026.

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