smolder

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a fire that burns with thick smoke but no flame
  2. verb burn slowly and without a flame
  3. verb have strong suppressed feelings

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).

In classic literature

Synonyms

smoulder

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