Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense smoulders, present participle smouldering, past tense, past participle smoulderedregional note: in AM, use smolder
1. verb
If something smoulders, it burns slowly, producing smoke but not flames.
A number of buildings around the Parliament were still smouldering today. [VERB]
Whole blocks had been turned into smouldering rubble. [VERB-ing]
Synonyms: smoke, burn slowly More Synonyms of smoulder
2. verb
If a feeling such as anger or hatred smoulders inside you, you continue to feel it but do not show it.
Baxter smouldered as he drove home for lunch. [VERB]
That's a lot of people smouldering with resentment. [VERB]
Synonyms: seethe, rage, fume, burn More Synonyms of smoulder
3. verb
If you say that someone smoulders, you mean that they are sexually attractive, usually in a mysterious or very intense way.
The actress seems to smoulder with sexuality. [VERB + with]
His darkly smouldering eyes never left her face. [VERB-ing]
smoulder in British English
or US smolder (ˈsməʊldə)
verb(intransitive)
1.
to burn slowly without flame, usually emitting smoke
2.
(esp of anger, etc) to exist in a suppressed or half-suppressed state
3.
to have strong repressed or half repressed feelings, esp anger
noun
4.
dense smoke, as from a smouldering fire
5.
a smouldering fire
Word origin
C14: from smolder (n), of obscure origin
smoulder in American English
(ˈsmoʊldər)
verb intransitive, noun
British
smolder
Examples of 'smoulder' in a sentence
smoulder
So there was a tricky ex and an officer doing smouldering looks across the camp kitchen.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The fire is still smouldering and could flare at any moment.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
By the fading light of their smouldering fires they resolved to do as she had said.
Barrett, Clive The Gods of Asgard (1989)
In the morning my father drove us slowly past the still smouldering wreckage.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Fires on the tile floors were still smouldering as we toured the area.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
We worked dawn to dusk piling up a huge bonfire that would still be smouldering the next weekend.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Once she had written that his eyes were "smouldering '.
Len Deighton Bomber
By the time we got there, the flats were a heap of smouldering rubble.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Others go inward, smouldering with resentment.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
And the 34-year-old also seems to veer towards women with long dark tresses and smouldering brown eyes.
The Sun (2015)
They exchange a smouldering look before she cycles away, apparently out of reach.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
When we reached the university a few minutes after the blasts, it was still smouldering.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The two-storey building was still smouldering last night.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
He has what writers of romantic fiction would call smouldering good looks combined with a steely personality that warns you not to get too close.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
See how smouldering you look.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
I just can't seem to get enough of his smouldering eyes.
The Sun (2011)
It would be only four years before the broadcasting of radio programmes swept across America like a smouldering fire that had suddenly burst into flame.
Gavin Weightman SIGNOR MARCONI'S MAGIC BOX: The invention that sparked the radio revolution (2003)
It was very like commuting with a bit of close-up smouldering, but stretched over two nights.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Team it with kohl like the models at Pucci for a smouldering, shimmering eye.
The Sun (2012)
One section of the factory's main exterior wall had already collapsed, leaving a pile of smouldering rubble.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
You are looking at yourself on screen but need to look past that smouldering pout and see if there's a tree sticking out of your head.
The Sun (2013)
A flame seizes the smouldering ruin, and bites On stubborn stalks that crackle as they resist.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
In other languages
smoulder
British English: smoulder VERB
If something smoulders, it burns slowly, producing smoke but not flames.
The wreckage was still smouldering several hours after the crash.
American English: smolder
Brazilian Portuguese: arder sem chamas
Chinese: 冒烟
European Spanish: arder sin llama
French: brûler
German: schwelen
Italian: bruciare senza fiamma
Japanese: くすぶる
Korean: 진압하다
European Portuguese: arder sem chamas
Latin American Spanish: arder sin llama
1 (verb)
Definition
to burn slowly without flames, usually giving off smoke
Whole blocks had been turned into smouldering rubble.
Synonyms
smoke
The rubble was still smoking.
burn slowly
2 (verb)
Definition
(of emotions) to exist in a suppressed state without being released
He smouldered as he drove home for lunch.
Synonyms
seethe
Under the surface she was seething.
rage
He raged at me for being late.
fume
I fumed when the board turned down my proposal.
burn
He was burning with rage.
boil
I stood in the kitchen, waiting for the water to boil.
simmer
He simmered with rage.
fester
Resentments are starting to fester.
be resentful
smart
My eyes smarted from the smoke.
Additional synonyms
in the sense of boil
Definition
to bubble and be agitated like something boiling
I stood in the kitchen, waiting for the water to boil.
Synonyms
simmer,
bubble,
foam,
churn,
seethe,
fizz,
froth,
effervesce
in the sense of burn
Definition
to feel strong emotion, esp. anger or passion
He was burning with rage.
Synonyms
seethe,
boil,
fume,
be angry,
simmer,
smoulder,
be wild,
be livid,
be beside yourself
in the sense of fester
Definition
to grow worse and increasingly hostile
Resentments are starting to fester.
Synonyms
intensify,
gall,
smoulder,
chafe,
irk,
rankle,
aggravate
Synonyms of 'smoulder'
smoulder
Explore 'smoulder' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of fume
Definition
to be overcome with anger or fury
I fumed when the board turned down my proposal.
Synonyms
rage,
boil,
seethe,
see red (informal),
storm,
rave,
rant,
smoulder,
crack up (informal),
go ballistic (slang),
champ at the bit (informal),
blow a fuse (slang),
fly off the handle (informal),
get hot under the collar (informal),
go off the deep end (informal),
wig out (slang),
go up the wall (slang),
get steamed up about (slang)
in the sense of rage
Definition
to feel or show intense anger
He raged at me for being late.
Synonyms
be furious,
rave,
blow up (informal),
fume,
lose it (informal),
fret,
seethe,
crack up (informal),
see red (informal),
chafe,
lose the plot (informal),
go ballistic (slang),
rant and rave,
foam at the mouth,
lose your temper,
blow a fuse (slang),
fly off the handle (informal),
be incandescent,
go off the deep end (informal),
throw a fit (informal),
wig out (slang, old-fashioned),
go up the wall (slang),
blow your top,
lose your rag (slang),
be beside yourself,
flip your lid (slang)
in the sense of simmer
Definition
(of violence or conflict) to threaten to break out
He simmered with rage.
Synonyms
fume,
seethe,
smoulder,
burn,
smart,
rage,
boil,
be angry,
see red (informal),
be tense,
be pissed (off) (taboo, slang),
be agitated,
be uptight (informal)
in the sense of smart
Definition
to feel or cause a sharp stinging physical or mental pain