Meaning

3 senses

  1. (US, intransitive)To burn slowly, giving off smoke but with little to no flame.

    The remains of the bonfire were left to smolder for hours.

    schwelen, glimmen

    тлетьtletʹ

    тлі́тиtlíty, же́врітиžévrity

    burn slowly and without a flame

  2. (figuratively, intransitive)To show signs of repressed anger or suppressed mental turmoil or other strong emotion, such as passion.

  3. (figuratively, intransitive)To exist in a suppressed or hidden state.

Examples

10 sentences

  1. The smoldering firewood burst into flame.

    ruНа тлеющих дровах вспыхнули языки пламени. — shanghainese

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. The fire was smoldering ashes by morning.

    Teangloir · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. A smoldering pile of coal was left behind.

    Amastan · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. If you squelch the fire with water, the coals will not smolder.

    Swalis · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. Three figures were gathered around the smoldering embers of a small fire.

    megamanenm · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

8 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
to burn slowly with smoke but no flame:
Русский
By meaning 1
to burn slowly with smoke but no flame:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
to burn slowly with smoke but no flame:

Origin

From Middle English smolderen (“to suffocate, stifle”), from Middle English smolder (“smok

From Middle English smolderen (“to suffocate, stifle”), from Middle English smolder (“smoke, smoky vapour”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *smolōn (“to burn, glow, fume, smoulder”). Related to Proto-West Germanic *smallijan (> English smell).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

smolders, smoldering, smoldered, smoldered
Base formsmolder · to smolder
3rd person singularsmolders
Present participlesmoldering
Past simplesmoldered
Past participlesmoldered

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theysmolder
he, she, itsmolders

Past simpleLesson

all personssmoldered

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave smoldered
he, she, ithas smoldered

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill smolder

Synonyms

1 synonyms
Close in meaning
  • burn slowly and without a flame:smoulder
  • have strong suppressed feelings:smoulder

Word family

1 related words
Derivedsmolderingly

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
smokerB1smokingA1smokysmoochsmoothA2

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

smolder — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto