Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Keep "smouldering" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "smouldering" intact in the sentence you are editing.
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
After choosing a replacement for "smouldering", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "smouldering" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
8 total sentences available.
I left Holmes seated in front of the smouldering fire, and long into the watches of the night I heard the low, melancholy wailings of his violin, and knew that he was still pondering over the strange problem which he had set himself to unravel.
Source: tatoeba (6309930)
A hound it was, an enormous coal-black hound, but not such a hound as mortal eyes have ever seen. Fire burst from its open mouth, its eyes glowed with a smouldering glare, its muzzle and hackles and dewlap were outlined in flickering flame.
Source: tatoeba (6620774)
When now the Gods have made proud Ilion fall, / and Asia's power and Priam's race renowned / o'erwhelmed in ruin undeserved, and all / Neptunian Troy lies smouldering on the ground, / in desert lands, to diverse exile bound, / celestial portents bid us forth to fare; / where Ida's heights above Antandros frowned, / a fleet we build, and gather crews, unware / which way the Fates will lead, what home is ours and where.
Source: tatoeba (6916441)
I didn't see him. I saw just a smouldering cigarette that he had left before.
Source: tatoeba (10314010)
Showing 4 of 8 available sentences.
Closest matches include brooding, burning, fester, glow, incomplete combustion.
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.