smolder
/ˈsmoʊldɚ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.01 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To burn slowly, giving off smoke but with little to no flame.
American usage; Intransitive verb
verb
To show signs of repressed anger or suppressed mental turmoil or other strong emotion, such as passion.
Intransitive verb
noun
The act of smoldering or something that smolders.
Example Sentences
- "The remains of the bonfire were left to smolder for hours."
- "Our quiuering Lances ſhaking in the aire, And bullets like Ioues dreadfull Thunderbolts, Enrolde in flames and fiery ſmoldering miſtes, Shall threat the Gods more than Cyclopian warres, […]"
- "Behind him, where the deer had been, smoldered a large circle of grass and trees."
- "And she’s got a great scene partner in Stevens, refining his star power into a just slightly, almost imperceptibly mechanical approximation of Don Juan smolder. He lets us admire the interface and still see the code ticking away underneath it."
Etymology
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).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: smolderen, smolder, *smolōn
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈsmoʊldɚ/
- British English: /ˈsməʊldə(ɹ)/
Usage
- American usage
- Intransitive verb