fume

1 of 2

noun

ˈfyüm 

1

a

: a smoke, vapor, or gas especially when irritating or offensive

engine exhaust fumes

b

: an often noxious suspension of particles in a gas (such as air)

2

: something (such as an emotion) that impairs one's reasoning

sometimes his head gets a little hot with the fumes of patriotism

—Matthew Arnold

3

: a state of excited irritation or anger

—usually used in the phrase in a fume

fumy

ˈfyü-mē 

adjective

fume

2 of 2

verb

fumed; fuming

transitive verb

1

: to expose to or treat with fumes

2

: to give off in fumes

fuming thick black smoke

3

: to utter while in a state of excited irritation or anger

intransitive verb

1

a

: to emit fumes

b

: to be in a state of excited irritation or anger

fretted and fumed over the delay

2

: to rise in or as if in fumes

Phrases

on fumes

: with little of the original strength or energy remaining

tired ballplayers running on fumes

Synonyms

Verb

• boil
• burn
• foam
• rage
• rankle
• seethe
• sizzle
• steam
• storm

Examples of fume in a Sentence

Verb

She's still fuming about not being invited to the party.

We sat there waiting for him, fuming with anger at the delay.

“They made these changes without even asking our opinion,” one employee fumed.

The volcano was fuming thick black smoke.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Close the drain tightly with a plug to prevent chlorine fumes from escaping. —Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 19 Dec. 2024

Then, residents complained of smelly fumes from the landfill, which has homes and businesses immediately adjacent to it and Edison High School close by. —Michael Slaten, Orange County Register, 9 Oct. 2024

Verb

Various herbs and organic materials—nutmeg, cinnamon, and clover leaf—bubbled and fumed inside the equipment, invading the air with sweet, tingling scents. —Hung Duong, Artforum, 1 Nov. 2024

And while that might be totally valid, fuming about your mom’s or dad’s shortcomings will likely trap you in a bad mood. —Julia Ries, SELF, 20 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, "smoke, exhalation," borrowed from Anglo-French fum, going back to Latin fūmus "smoke, fumes," going back to Indo-European *d^huh₂-mó- "smoke, vapor" (whence also Old Church Slavic dymŭ "smoke," Lithuanian dū́mai, Sanskrit dhūmáḥ, and probably Greek thȳmós "spirit, mind, courage"), noun derivative from a verbal base *d^hu̯eh₂- or *d^heu̯h₂- "produce smoke by burning," whence Greek thýō, thýein "to sacrifice," Latin suffiō, suffīre "to subject to smoke, fumigate," Old Church Slavic dujǫ, duti "to blow" and perhaps Tocharian B twās- "kindle, ignite"

Note: Also allied are Hittite tuhhae-, perhaps "to smoke out, drive out by smoke," from an unattested noun derivative (earlier glossed as "gasp, cough"; see A. Kloeckhorst, Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon, Brill, 2008); and Old High German toum "vapor, smoke," Middle Dutch doom "vapor, steam," going back to Germanic *dauma-, presumably from an o-grade derivative *d^hou̯h₂-mo-. Greek thȳmós is an exact phonetic correspondent to the other words, though the sense divergence suggests influence from some phonetically similar base of different meaning.

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Phrases Containing fume

• in a fume

Kids Definition

fume

1 of 2 noun

ˈfyüm 

: a disagreeable smoke, vapor, or gas

—usually used in plural

acid fumes

fumy

ˈfyü-mē 

adjective

fume

2 of 2 verb

fumed; fuming

1

: to expose to or treat with fumes

2

: to give off fumes

3

: to show bad temper or anger