Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

swelter

/ˈswɛl.tɚ/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.62 in modern English

Syllables
swel-ter
IPA
/ˈswɛl.tɚ/
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To suffer terribly from intense heat.

Intransitive verb

verb

To perspire greatly from heat.

Intransitive verb

verb

To cause to faint, to overpower, as with heat.

Transitive verb

noun

Intense heat.

Example Sentences

Etymology

From Middle English swelteren, frequentative form of Middle English swelten (“to die; faint”), from Old English sweltan (“to die”), from Proto-West Germanic *sweltan, from Proto-Germanic *sweltaną (“to die”), from Proto-Indo-European *swel- (“to smolder; burn”), equivalent to swelt + -er (frequentative suffix).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: swelteren, swelten, sweltan, *sweltan, *sweltaną, *swel-
  • Suffix: swelt

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈswɛl.tɚ/
  • British English: /ˈswɛl.tə/

Usage

Inflected Forms

swelters (present, singular) sweltering (participle, present) sweltered (participle, past) sweltered (past) sulter (alternative, obsolete) swelters (plural)

Derived Forms

sweltersome unsweltered sultry sweltery sweltry

Synonyms

burn up steam stew sweat buckets sweat like a pig sweb swelt

Rhymes With

shelter smelter helter skelter welter belter helter-skelter stelter felter kelter pelter

Questions

How do you pronounce swelter?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈswɛl.tɚ/.
What does swelter mean?
To suffer terribly from intense heat.
Where does swelter come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce swelter

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “swelter”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈswɛl.tɚ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “swelter”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “swelter” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.