swelter

S1W4E1L1T1E1R1
UK/ˈswɛl.tə/US/ˈswɛl.tɚ/

verb

To suffer terribly from intense heat.

“The summer swelter did not relent until late in September, most years.”

Similar
burn upsteamstewsweat bucketssweat like a pigswebswelt
OriginMiddle English swelteren ← Old English sweltan ← Proto-West Germanic *sweltan →
RareScrabble 10
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Meanings

verbswelter (third-person singular simple present swelters, present participle sweltering, simple past and past participle sweltered)

present singular third person swelters · participle present sweltering · participle past sweltered · past sweltered · alternative obsolete sulter

  1. intransitiveTo suffer terribly from intense heat.

    Synonyms: burn up, steam, stew

  2. intransitiveTo perspire greatly from heat.

    Synonyms: sweat buckets, sweat like a pig

  3. transitiveTo cause to faint, to overpower, as with heat.

    It was so rare a piece of fun To see the swelter'd cattle run

    1796, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Fire, Famine, and Slaughter

    Synonyms: sweb, swelt

nounswelter (plural swelters)

plural swelters · alternative obsolete sulter

  1. Intense heat.

    The summer swelter did not relent until late in September, most years.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo suffer terribly from intense heat.

Similar
burn upsteamstew

verbTo perspire greatly from heat.

Similar
sweat bucketssweat like a pig

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

Similar
swebswelt
Also see
boilburn upmaftstew

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*swel-“to smolder; burn”
  2. Proto-Germanic*sweltaną“to die”
  3. Proto-West Germanic*sweltan
  4. Old Englishsweltan“to die”
  5. Middle Englishswelten“to die; faint”
  6. Middle Englishswelteren
  7. Englishswelter

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).

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian жега, зной
  • жега (žega)intense heat
  • зной (znoj)intense heat
Catalan xafogor
  • xafogorintense heat
Czech péci se, pařit se
  • péci seTo suffer terribly from intense heat
  • pařit seTo suffer terribly from intense heat
  • potit seTo perspire greatly from heat
  • horkointense heat
  • parnointense heat
  • pařákintense heat
  • vedrointense heat
Esperanto sufoki
  • sufokiTo suffer terribly from intense heat
Finnish läkähtyä, helle
  • läkähtyäTo suffer terribly from intense heat
  • helleintense heat
French étouffer, canicule
  • étoufferTo suffer terribly from intense heat
  • caniculeintense heat
German stark schwitzen, Hitzewelle
  • stark schwitzenTo perspire greatly from heat
  • Hitzewelleintense heat
Japanese 茹だる
  • 茹だる (udaru)To suffer terribly from intense heat
Latvian svelme
  • svelmeintense heat
Polish skwar, upał
  • skwarintense heat
  • upałintense heat
Portuguese suar em bicas
  • suar em bicasTo perspire greatly from heat
Russian изнемогать от зноя, жариться
  • изнемогать от зноя (iznemogatʹ ot znoja)To suffer terribly from intense heat
  • жариться (žaritʹsja)To suffer terribly from intense heat
  • жара́ (žará)intense heat
  • зной (znoj)intense heat
Spanish bochorno, (Extremadura) flama
  • bochornointense heat
  • (Extremadura) flamaintense heat

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with swelter

shelterwelterbelterfelterkelterhelter-skelterpelter
All rhymes →

Anagrams

wrestle
Cite this entry
APA

swelter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/swelter

MLA

“swelter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/swelter. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “swelter,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/swelter.

Source: swelter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.