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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of smolders
Neighbors living near the Ontario warehouse say Abdulkarim should face more than arson charges, as equipment still smolders at the site and questionable air quality lingers after last week's massive blaze, covering an area the size of 21 football fields.
—
Austin Turner, CBS News, 13 Apr. 2026
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
Austin Turner, CBS News, 13 Apr. 2026
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smolders
Verb
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Security snarls The TSA PreCheck line at terminal B in LaGuardia Airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, on March 27, 2026.—
Leslie Josephs,
CNBC,
28 Mar. 2026
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Beyond the red tape that snarls any new apartment, condominiums confront an additional hurdle.—
M. Nolan Gray,
The Atlantic,
13 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Studies have shown that rising temperatures due to climate change are fueling longer wildfire seasons, and making blazes both more frequent and more destructive.—
Kathryn Prociv,
NBC news,
23 Apr. 2026
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Once Orion blazes through Earth's atmosphere, the protective heat shield will be cast off to make way for parachutes to deploy and slow the vehicle down.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA Today,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
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This all comes as the legal fight over the audit steams ahead, over 15 months after 72% of the state signed off on the ballot measure.—
Lance Reynolds,
Boston Herald,
28 Mar. 2026
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Mile End's Bohème Vintage stocks quality wool and denim, and steams them right behind the counter.—
Charlie Hobbs,
Condé Nast Traveler,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The bathroom is situated next to the kitchen and is notable for having an incinerating toilet – as its name implies, this burns waste to ash.—
Adam Williams
April 23,
New Atlas,
23 Apr. 2026
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The facility is positioned as a potential model for decarbonizing aviation, which burns roughly 100 billion gallons of jet fuel per year globally.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
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LaCava said the change seems like another city policy that angers many residents without major impact.—
David Garrick,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
25 Feb. 2026
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What angers me is thinking about what could have been.—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
12 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Trump seethes with hatred and erupts in volcanic fury to denounce, demonize, disparage and threaten anyone who refuses to support his increasingly irrational and harmful proposals and actions.—
Washington Post,
Washington Post,
2 Feb. 2026
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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
Verb
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Even if other tracks on BASS2 don’t quite rise to the same level, the record glows with new confidence.—
Harry Tafoya,
Pitchfork,
24 Apr. 2026
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There’s a Mooi wallcovering where extinct animals hide within jungle fauna in one and a freestanding Aura by Antoniolupi sink that glows translucent yellow in the other.—
Sandra Barrera,
Oc Register,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Luckily, if that clip snaps off, a quick fix is to purchase an RJClip.—
BestReviews,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Apr. 2026
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While the result snaps a five-game winning streak across all competitions, the Revs are unbeaten in six, have picked up back-to-back road results, and have the credibility of having taken Lionel Messi and the star-studded, defending MLS Cup champions to the brink.—
Julian Cardillo,
Boston Herald,
26 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Smolders.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smolders. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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