variants
or smouldered
1
as in snarled
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 blazed
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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Recent Examples of smoldered
The Griselda actress smoldered in a bright red strapless gown with a plunging sweetheart neckline, a corset-style bodice, and a form-fitting silhouette that subtly flared out into a mermaid design around her knees.
—
Lara Walsh, InStyle, 12 Jan. 2026
Richards, who was married to actor Charlie Sheen at the time of her Playboy cover, smoldered for the camera while standing on a black spiral staircase in her nostalgic Halloween look.
—Edward Segarra, USA Today, 3 Nov. 2025
A week later the same fire, which had likely smoldered underground, reemerged and became known as the Palisades Fire.
—Tom Tapp, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2025
Authorities have arrested 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht, accusing him of purposefully igniting a New Year’s Day fire that smoldered for days and later exploded into the deadly Palisades Fire that devastated California.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2025
Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 29-year-old man accused of setting the most destructive blaze in Los Angeles history, likely used a lighter to start a small fire on New Year’s Day that smoldered underground for days before reigniting in high winds and killing 12 people, federal authorities said Wednesday.
—Gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Oct. 2025
The fire smoldered for a week before reigniting under heavy winds and growing into the Palisades Fire.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 8 Oct. 2025
Some buildings still smoldered from the fires of the day before, and soldiers carrying rifles enforced a nationwide curfew.
—Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 10 Sep. 2025
Throughout the 2000s, the actor smoldered on series like Dawson's Creek (2001–2002), and One Tree Hill (2003–2012), not to mention the films A Cinderella Story (2004) and House of Wax (2005).
—Mekishana Pierre, EW.com, 1 Sep. 2025
Lara Walsh, InStyle, 12 Jan. 2026
Richards, who was married to actor Charlie Sheen at the time of her Playboy cover, smoldered for the camera while standing on a black spiral staircase in her nostalgic Halloween look.
—Edward Segarra, USA Today, 3 Nov. 2025
A week later the same fire, which had likely smoldered underground, reemerged and became known as the Palisades Fire.
—Tom Tapp, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2025
Authorities have arrested 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht, accusing him of purposefully igniting a New Year’s Day fire that smoldered for days and later exploded into the deadly Palisades Fire that devastated California.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2025
Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 29-year-old man accused of setting the most destructive blaze in Los Angeles history, likely used a lighter to start a small fire on New Year’s Day that smoldered underground for days before reigniting in high winds and killing 12 people, federal authorities said Wednesday.
—Gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Oct. 2025
The fire smoldered for a week before reigniting under heavy winds and growing into the Palisades Fire.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 8 Oct. 2025
Some buildings still smoldered from the fires of the day before, and soldiers carrying rifles enforced a nationwide curfew.
—Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 10 Sep. 2025
Throughout the 2000s, the actor smoldered on series like Dawson's Creek (2001–2002), and One Tree Hill (2003–2012), not to mention the films A Cinderella Story (2004) and House of Wax (2005).
—Mekishana Pierre, EW.com, 1 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smoldered
Verb
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High winds also snarled air travel at Denver International Airport, where more than 1,100 flights were delayed or canceled Tuesday.—
Katie Langford,
Denver Post,
18 Feb. 2026
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For months, projects on some of the metro area's major highways and thoroughfares, including Interstates 64 and 265 and surface streets like Brownsboro Road, have forced drivers to find alternate routes and deal with longer travel times as construction has snarled traffic across town and beyond.—
Stephanie Stremplewski,
Louisville Courier Journal,
15 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Pronouncements blazed forth from him but evanesced, leaving only contrails.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 Feb. 2026
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Her upset blazed the way for Hernandez and Soto-Martínez in 2022 and fellow DSAer Ysabel Jurado in 2024.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
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But every time Trump takes to social media, angered by drug trafficking – or drone incursions, Sheinbaum Pardo has deftly reminded him of their working partnership, Jacobson said.—
Lauren Villagran,
USA Today,
13 Feb. 2026
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In one of those realities (the actual one most of us are living in), a growing number of people across the political spectrum are angered, terrified and disgusted by actions being taken in their names by people and agencies which seem to have little or no accountability.—
Brenda Looper,
Arkansas Online,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Those earlier rules allowed power plants that burned a particularly dirty form of coal called lignite coal to emit more mercury than plants that burned other forms of the fossil fuel.—
Jackie Flynn Mogensen,
Scientific American,
20 Feb. 2026
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Burn rates rise during times of high network activity, sometimes leading to more ETH being burned than minted through block rewards.—
Ethan M. Stone,
Ascend Agency,
20 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The streak was snapped in a 4-3 loss at Michigan Tech.—
Dean Spiros,
Twin Cities,
22 Feb. 2026
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In a photograph that one of Bird’s classmates snapped that day and published in the Springs Valley Herald, neither Bird nor Knight is smiling.—
Keith O'Brien,
Rolling Stone,
22 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The actress, also sharing the laughter, glowed in a sleeveless black dress layered with necklaces and bracelets, leaning in with a warm smile — the vibe appeared to be relaxed, romantic and very much coupled up.—
Stephanie Giang-Paunon,
FOXNews.com,
12 Feb. 2026
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The festivities began with a tea reception at the Hotel Chelsea, where the storied hallways glowed with lamplight.—
Anna Grace Lee,
Vogue,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
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They can be roasted, steamed, or sautéed and served as a delightful side dish with nothing more than a squeeze of lemon.—
Riley Wofford,
Martha Stewart,
21 Feb. 2026
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The windows steamed with the warmth of the revelry inside.—
Rachel Bernhard,
jsonline.com,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Candlelight flickered against vibrant tanzanite, sky blue topaz and canary yellow diamonds on Tuesday night at Sunset Tower Hotel, where Pomellato gathered brand ambassadors and celebrity stylists to mark the reopening of its Beverly Hills flagship, unveiled in October.—
Ryma Chikhoune,
Footwear News,
11 Feb. 2026
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Officers captured the scene using a drone, which showed the man balancing on the unicycle as flames flickered just feet from passing vehicles.—
Jasmine Baehr,
FOXNews.com,
8 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Smoldered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smoldered. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
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