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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Recent Examples of smolders
Blood orange and saffron ignite the air, myrrh smolders beneath, and the woods hum with market heat.
—
Adam Hurly, Robb Report, 16 Oct. 2025
Adam Hurly, Robb Report, 16 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smolders
Verb
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The record was created with Shellback and Max Martin in between shows on the career-spanning Eras Tour, which lit a fire in the singer-songwriter that blazes across each of its 12 tracks.—
Rolling Stone,
Rolling Stone,
3 Oct. 2025
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Last year, dry fall weather in Southern California played a role in fueling major fires, like the Eaton and Palisades blazes, only weeks before the state’s typical period of atmospheric river storm events.—
Anna Skinner,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Humidity often corrodes cables and steams camera lenses.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
3 Nov. 2025
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The clip then smash-cuts to a scene of Bruce as a child listening to his parents fight in the next room, and we’re meant to understand that the joy and power that steams off of the stage is a cure for the pain of childhood wounds.—
Sadie Sartini Garner,
Pitchfork,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Saito burns about 7,000 calories per day and has lost 13 pounds so far.—
Kelly Meyerhofer,
jsonline.com,
4 Nov. 2025
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Unlike conventional scramjets that rely on kerosene, SPARTAN burns hydrogen, producing zero carbon emissions while enabling reusable, low-maintenance hypersonic flight.—
Kapil Kajal,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
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And nothing angers the Survivor gods more than reality TV hubris.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
2 Oct. 2025
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Kirk assassination angers and unsettles leaders, residents The assassination of Kirk, which happened in front of hundreds of people and was captured on video and widely circulated on social media, has in particular rattled the nation and drawn condemnation from across the political spectrum.—
Mark Vancleave,
Twin Cities,
13 Sep. 2025
Verb
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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 business mogul glows in a golden gown and matching accessories.—
Brittany Talarico,
PEOPLE,
4 Nov. 2025
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Dusted with snow and adorned with red berries and pine cones, each pre-lit tree glows with 130 warm white lights.—
Nora Colomer
may earn a commission if you buy through our referral links. This content was created by a team that works independently from the Fox newsroom.,
FOXNews.com,
27 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The organ is dropped on the floor and a dog in the waiting room, who'd accidentally consumed marijuana, snaps it up and runs away with it.—
Ana Calderone,
PEOPLE,
8 Nov. 2025
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And if a hundred fish come out of the water, the AI snaps pictures of that hundred fish, identifies those fish, and puts that into the package in a microsecond.—
Dan Morrison,
USA Today,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Her debut, Sayonara Bar, flickers around the characters frequenting a Japanese hostess lounge, while The Incarnations traces a single soul across a thousand years.—
Neil McRobert,
Vulture,
16 Oct. 2025
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The deep green glass vessel, etched with vertical lines reminiscent of towering tree trunks, shifts from khaki to warm browns and golden yellows as the flame flickers, casting a hypnotic glow that’s as enchanting as its aroma.—
Michael Stefanov,
Robb Report,
14 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Smolders.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smolders. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
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