Synonyms: Hot

Whatever you're describing — from the summer sun to your new favorite song — this list has words for everything that's so hot right now. For more synonym lists, explore our Say What You Mean resources.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. blaze
    a strong flame that burns brightly
    The blazing sun hung over the watchers like a fiery disc. Redwall
    Something blazing hot, like a bonfire, gives off as much light as heat.
  2. blistering
    extremely hot
    The angry, blistering sun did not let me. The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child
  3. boil
    bring to the temperature at which a liquid changes to vapor
    I felt I was climbing the side of a volcano and I was about to look over the rim into a boiling cauldron of orange lava. Life of Pi
  4. broil
    cook by exposing to strong heat in a part of an oven
    We broiled each day and shivered at night. Between Shades of Gray
    Broiling usually takes place in an oven, where food is put right under an intense heat source, but it can also refer to extreme heat outdoors under a blazing sun.
  5. febrile
    of or relating to or characterized by fever
    “She was feeling fuzzy, lightheaded and febrile. Weak. Was it the flu? Maybe.” New York Times (Mar 19, 2020)
  6. infernal
    characteristic of an uncontrolled and intense fire
    The chamber was infernal in its heat and rank in its scent. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves
    An inferno is a raging fire, and inferno is also Italian for "Hell" — it's the title of the first section of Dante's famous Divine Comedy. So a ferocious fire or hellish heat can both be described as infernal.
  7. scald
    burn with a hot liquid or steam
    She lets us sit on the floor around the fire where we eat the fried bread and sip at the scalding sweet tea in jamjars. Angela's Ashes: A Memoir
  8. scorch
    make very hot and dry
    Yet the coast is not a classic, Sahara-style desert of sand dunes and scorching sun. 1491
  9. sultry
    characterized by oppressive heat and humidity
    That year summer arrived early, with a sultry heat that covered the city with its nightmare glare. The House of the Spirits: A Novel
    Hot, muggy weather that makes you crave air conditioning is sultry.
  10. sweltering
    excessively hot and humid; marked by sweating and faintness
    Then, one sweltering Sunday that summer, Baba and I were at the flea market, sitting at our booth, fanning our faces with news­papers. The Kite Runner
    Take sultry weather and add more heat and the danger of passing out and you've got sweltering.
  11. tepid
    moderately warm
    The soup was tepid, and you were lucky if there was a limp potato floating in it. Prisoner B-3087
    Around 1400, the word tepid evolved from the Latin tepidus, an adjective meaning “lukewarm,” which before that came about from the Latin tepere, a verb meaning “to be warm.” Bathwater that’s been sitting in the tub for two hours is probably tepid.
  12. torrid
    extremely hot
    Sitting on the tremendous rocks in the torrid sun, Roger received this news as an illumination. Lord of the Flies
    Torrid means "very hot," as in "so hot that you should get out of the sun." It comes from the Latin torridus, meaning "dried with heat."
Created on Fri Feb 28 22:48:46 EST 2020 (updated Mon Mar 22 17:41:02 EDT 2021)

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