smolder

/ˈsmoʊldɚ/

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).

smolder means the act of smoldering or something that smolders. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.

Why this word is great

SMOLDER — [Verb] To burn slowly with smoke but no flame, or to exist in a suppressed state, as of emotion. 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 (source of English smell). Unlike "singe," which implies a brief, superficial scorch, or "molder," which suggests a quiet decay into dust, to smolder is to harbor a persistent, subsurface combustion. It is the deep ember of a forgotten campfire at dawn, the resentment banked for years behind a civil smile, the peat fire hissing for centuries beneath the bog—a testament to the latent power of things that refuse either to flare or to go out.

noun

The act of smoldering or something that smolders.“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.”

verb

To burn with no flame and little smoke.“The remains of the bonfire were left to smolder for hours.”
To show signs of repressed anger or suppressed mental turmoil or other strong emotion, such as passion.
To exist in a suppressed or hidden state.