SMOULDERS Synonyms: 103 Similar and Opposite Words

smolders

verb

variants or smoulders

present tense third-person singular of smolder

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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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 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 smolders The inside of the mound was tightly stacked with beech wood which smolders for weeks until it's been turned into charcoal — a craft that's been practiced in the Harz mountain region in eastern Germany for hundreds of years. — ABC News, 27 July 2026 Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel – the deadliest security failure in the country’s history – sparked the war in Gaza and a multifront conflagration that still smolders almost three years later. — Dina Kraft, Christian Science Monitor, 24 June 2026 Brûlée, a new brunch restaurant inspired by classic American Southern food, has already become a hotspot in Chicago, but smolders with culinary potential. — Louisa Kung Liu Chu, Chicago Tribune, 16 June 2026 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for smolders

Verb

Day to day, as the city grows, there’s also the question of traffic, which snarls the city as public transit initiatives have repeatedly struggled.

— Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 21 July 2026
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

Definition of snarls

Verb

As the flames approached the community in July, the majority of the village’s 3,500 residents were forced to flee their homes, as hundreds of firefighters were deployed to tackle blazes more violent and unpredictable than in previous years.

— Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 4 Aug. 2026
Calmer winds and cooler temperatures assisted fire crews in their battle against the Spokane blazes Monday, but temperature are anticipated to climb back into the 90s by Wednesday and continue to push firefighters to their limits.

— Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of blazes

Verb

One burns the only copy of her sister’s precious handwritten manuscript; at least two others set houses on fire, one while her unsuspecting parents are still asleep inside.

— Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 25 Sep. 2026
Saha suffered 60% burns all over her body and remains in critical condition at a hospital, according to The Telegraph India and The Hindu.

— Kimberlee Speakman, PEOPLE, 19 Sep. 2026

Definition of burns

Verb

The receptionist angers Kripke and Bert so much that they are picked up by the police — along with Stuart, who had also been arrested.

— Michael Schneider, Variety, 31 July 2026
According to the myth, Agamemnon angers the goddess Artemis by killing one of her sacred deer.

— Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 20 July 2026

Definition of angers

Verb

The tool relies on a soluble liquid substitute that glows during the reaction, reducing measurement times to minutes and enabling rapid evaluation of large libraries of enzyme variants.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 21 Sep. 2026
The number 10 alludes to Yom Kippur, which falls on the 10th day of Tishrei, when the moon glows brighter.

— Ben Corn, Christian Science Monitor, 19 Sep. 2026

Definition of glows

Verb

Tom Rhys Harries seethes as Matt Hagen, a pretty boy who loses his looks only to regain them from an experimental procedure that makes a jumble of his psyche.

— Randy Myers, Mercury News, 2 Sep. 2026
In the very human-scale role of Chef, all that glamour and pageantry seethes just beneath the skin.

— Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 2 Aug. 2026

Definition of seethes

Verb

Layered background sighs, a resonant lead vocal, autumnal acoustic guitar flickers, synths both eerie and trippy—James has all his tricks on tap.

— Ryan Leas, Pitchfork, 28 Aug. 2026
But Triage does have a moment in which an ember of the old cruel optimism flickers.

— Charles Finch, The Atlantic, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of flickers

Browse Nearby Words

smoldering

smolders

smooch

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“Smolders.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smolders. Accessed 1 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of smolders

verb

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