Synonyms of smoldering

smoldering 1 of 2

adjective

variants or smouldering

as in flickering

being on fire with no visible flames but often with much smoke

All that was left of the campfire were smoldering embers.

Related Words

• flickering
• burning
• glowing
• flaming
• charred
• burned
• flaring
• blazing
• aglow
• live
• fiery
• ignited
• lit
• aflame
• inflamed
• afire
• scorching
• kindled
• searing
• sizzling
• roasting
• alight
• combusting
• broiling
• scorched
• red-hot
• ablaze
• conflagrant
• scalding
• hot
• piping hot
• singed
• seared
• incinerated

Dissimilar Words

• dead
• extinguished
• smothered
• stamped (out)
• choked
• quenched
• damped
• snuffed (out)
• suffocated
• doused

smoldering

2 of 2

verb

variants or smouldering

present participle of smolder

1

as in snarling

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.

Related Words

• snarling
• steaming
• burning
• snapping
• seething
• angering
• storming
• foaming
• raging
• sputtering
• flaring (up)
• bristling
• venting
• fuming
• flipping (out)
• rampaging
• blowing up
• fulminating
• vituperating
• blustering
• raving
• teeing off
• ranting
• carrying on
• stewing
• taking on
• fretting
• chafing

Dissimilar Words

• soothing
• containing
• suppressing
• checking
• collecting
• curbing
• restraining
• stifling
• smothering
• composing
• swallowing
• choking (back)
• repressing
• subduing
• strangling
• pacifying
• appeasing
• tempering
• allaying
• moderating
• cooling
• relaxing
• reining
• pocketing
• easing
• settling
• calming
• quieting
• toning (down)
• quelling
• letting up
• stilling
• hushing

2

as in blazing

to be on fire usually with smoke but few flames

They look forward to those long summer nights telling stories beside a smoldering campfire.

Related Words

• blazing
• burning
• flaming
• glowing
• flickering
• sputtering
• combusting
• igniting
• sparkling
• glistening
• sparking
• kindling
• gleaming
• firing
• charring
• shimmering
• melting
• scorching
• enkindling
• roasting
• glittering
• lighting (up)
• cooking
• wavering
• baking
• sweltering
• catching
• broiling
• deflagrating
• shining
• flaring (up)
• twinkling
• radiating
• glimmering
• glaring
• flashing
• beaming
• beating (down)
• brightening
• scintillating
• glinting
• guttering

Dissimilar Words

• extinguishing
• darkening
• dimming

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of smoldering

Adjective

Casting two of the most smoldering contemporary actors on the planet clearly stacks the deck, and carries on the long tradition of pairing a dashing figure of brooding handsomeness (Laurence Olivier, Ralph Fiennes) with a breathless screen beauty (Merle Oberon, Juliette Binoche). — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 11 Feb. 2026

Verb

Its headquarters were left smoldering on the banks of the Nile. — Abdelrahman Elgendy, Time, 6 Oct. 2026

In Pacific Palisades, the LAFD failed to act on multiple warnings that the Lachman fire was still smoldering. — Terry Castleman, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026

Officials could not immediately identify the fatal fire victim, who was found dead inside the smoldering apartment. — Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 23 Sep. 2026

Oklahoma County commissioners are asking the State Auditor & Inspector's Office for a two-stage investigative audit of accounting errors reported by the County Clerk's Office, a crisis that exploded in recent weeks after smoldering for months. — Richard Mize, Oklahoman, 18 Sep. 2026

So here was Hynde, an American girl with a smoldering stare, and her three British male back-up musicians. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 14 Sep. 2026

There were scenes of smoldering buildings and then a plume of smoke and debris as the first tower collapsed. — Chicago Tribune, 11 Sep. 2026

To find their bodies, that afternoon Comella and other firemen traversed the steep, smoldering steel mountain using a series of ladders, a process not unlike the way trekkers negotiate the treacherous Khumbu ice fall at the base of Mount Everest. — Peter Wilkinson, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026

Rounding out the crew was Smith as smoldering ingenue Kelly Garrett (Smith originally was cast as Sabrina, until Jackson decided the role was better for her). — Michael Callahan, HollywoodReporter, 11 Sep. 2026