Definition

Adjective: 1. In a state of intense, often agitated, activity or emotion: Describes something that is bubbling, churning, or filled with restless energy, like a boiling liquid. This can apply to physical movement or to strong, contained feelings like anger. 2. Crowded and moving in a restless, chaotic way: Describes a large group of people or things in constant, turbulent motion.

Examples of Usage

• Describing intense, contained emotion:
  • She was seething with rage after hearing the news.
  • Beneath his calm exterior, he was seething with jealousy.
• Describing chaotic, active movement:
  • The seething crowd pushed against the barriers.
  • The compost pile was a seething mass of insects.

Advanced Usage

• "seething with [emotion]": A common collocation to indicate being filled with a powerful, often negative, feeling.
  • The team was seething with frustration after the unfair loss.
• Used metaphorically to describe a mind full of turbulent thoughts.
  • His seething brain could find no peace.

Variants and Related Words

• Seethe (verb): To be filled with intense, unexpressed anger, or to be in a state of turbulent activity.
  • The water began to seethe as it reached boiling point.
  • He seethed silently during the entire meeting.

Synonyms

• Fuming: Feeling or showing great anger.
• Boiling: Very angry (metaphorical); or literally, bubbling with heat.
• Churning: Moving vigorously or being in a state of agitation.
• Teeming: Full of people or things moving about actively.

Related Idioms

• To be at a boiling point: To be so angry that one is about to lose control, closely related to the state of "seething."
  • After the insult, he was at a boiling point.

Adjective

1. in constant agitation
   • a seething flag-waving crowd filled the streets
   • a seething mass of maggots
   • lovers and madmen have such seething brains- Shakespeare