to sizzle

Examples

• All

• She tried to remain calm, but jealousy made her emotions sizzle beneath the surface.

• The teacher's face began to sizzle with rage after hearing the student's excuse.

• Then one night, they surrendered to the sexual tension that had been sizzling between them.

  Fiction book (2000)

• The smell of sizzling onions and liver crept in under the door.

  Fiction book (1998)

• The current sparked and sizzled from her into him, leaving him breathless, dazed, and churning.

  Fiction book (2001)

• It's surprising I don't start screaming and stamping, my hair bristling up, my head sizzling.

  Fiction book (2000)

Synonyms

B

to boil

vsto sizzle

• Informal

114 5.5

To become very angry or excited

focuses on a burning, intense anger rather than general agitation

F

to fume

vsto sizzle

22 6.3

To feel very angry without showing it

casts the feeling as a burning, simmering inner heat

S

to seethe

vsto sizzle

18 7.3

To feel very angry but not show it

uses a burning image to show intense internal anger

S

to smolder

vsto sizzle

• US

9 6.7

To feel strong anger or hurt without showing it

shows emotion as burning heat rather than a slow hidden one

S

to seethe with anger

vsto sizzle

1 7.4

To feel very angry while trying not to show it

frames the emotion as a burning, intense inner rage

Idioms

A

all sizzle and no steak

• Informal

1 9.6

A thing that looks exciting but has no real value

How Angry

to rage

84 4.8

to sizzle

8 5.6

to irk

25 6.3

to annoy

246 1.0

Surface Forms

Etymology