MEANING
1. Burn slowly with smoke or retained heat but little or no visible flame.
2. Persist as a strong emotion that is not openly expressed.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- smoldering embers
- debris smolders
On the page
The debris continued to smolder beneath the rain.
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- smolder
- Past tense
- smoldered
- Past participle
- smoldered
- Present participle
- smoldering
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- smolder
- Present continuous
- am/is/are smoldering
- Present perfect
- have/has smoldered
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been smoldering
- Past
- smoldered
- Past continuous
- was/were smoldering
- Past perfect
- had smoldered
- Past perfect continuous
- had been smoldering
- Future
- will smolder
- Future continuous
- will be smoldering
- Future perfect
- will have smoldered
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been smoldering
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: horror / gothic. Forms: smolder; smolders; smoldered; smoldered; smoldering Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: atmosphere, description. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: smolders.
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