Buzz
Repeating how hot it is during summer can make the word feel overused. Explore these 13 historical terms to vividly describe your sweltering experience all season.
1. Adurent
An intense heat wave during a drought might be described as “adurent,” a 17th-century word meaning “burning; hot and dry,” as noted by the Oxford English Dictionary.
2. and 3. Besweat and Forswat
It's hard to charm a lady when you're forswat. | duncan1890/DigitalVision Vectors/Getty ImagesInstead of saying you’re “covered with sweat,” why not describe yourself as “besweat” or “forswat”?
4. Birsle
Birsle is a Scottish term referring to “scorching the surface with intense heat,” as defined by the OED. A day at the beach without sunscreen could leave you thoroughly birsled.
5. Calefy
Derived from the Latin verb calēre, meaning “to be hot,” calefy translates to “to heat.” A sauna session can calefy you into a dripping, sweaty state.
6. Fire-Fanged
Fire-fanged corn perfectly mirrors how you feel in July. | Douglas Sacha/Moment/Getty ImagesThe word fire-fanged, which means “ruined by extreme heat,” was traditionally used for crops scorched and dried by the sun. However, it’s equally fitting to describe yourself in similar conditions.
7. Fracedo
The fracedo—or “decaying heat”—of August can cause roadkill to emit a foul odor almost instantly.
8. Madid
The oppressive humidity of a Southern summer could aptly be called “madid.” This term, meaning “wet” or “damp,” isn’t limited to weather. In his 1844 novel Coningsby, Benjamin Disraeli portrayed a character’s “large deep blue eye” as “madid yet piercing.”
9. Mastiff Day
This mastiff appears to be surviving a mastiff day. | James Gill - Danehouse/GettyImagesThe phrase dog days denotes the hottest period of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, linked to the Dog Star’s (Sirius’s) rising. But what’s even more sweltering than a dog day? English writer Horace Walpole coined the term mastiff day for such extremes.
“Last week, we experienced two or three mastiff days; they were far more intense than the usual dog days,” he mentioned in a 1781 letter. Despite the clever phrase not gaining traction, there’s nothing stopping you from introducing it to your circle.
10. Mooth
When the humidity is so oppressive that even moving from the couch feels impossible, you’re mooth—a Scottish term, possibly of Scandinavian origin, meaning “drained by heat.” Mooth (and moothy) can also describe the muggy weather itself.
11. Muck Sweat
This hiker, drenched in muck sweat, clearly can't keep up. | clu/DigitalVision Vectors/Getty ImagesBeing in a muck sweat means sweating excessively (or metaphorically panicking). You might also say you’re “all of a muck of sweat” or simply “all of a muck.”
12. and 13. Sweltry and Swoly
While sweltering is the modern term for unbearable heat, you can borrow from 16th-century vocabulary and opt for sweltry or swoly instead.
Are you a word enthusiast? Do you enjoy learning rare words and vintage slang to spice up conversations, or uncovering intriguing facts about the origins of common phrases? Then grab a copy of our new book, The Curious Compendium of Wonderful Words: A Miscellany of Obscure Terms, Bizarre Phrases, & Surprising Etymologies, releasing June 6! Pre-order now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, or Bookshop.org.
