why do we say scorching hot while scorching already means very hot?

Question

Scorching means extremely hot. So why do we say scorching hot? Isn't it redundant to bring hot after scorching?

So you don't confuse it with things that are scorching cold or bitterly hot. — candied_orange, Oct 21 '22 at 20:54

score 7 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

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Scorching is both adjective and adverb. If you use it before an adjective like hot it means you're using it as an adverb, which means very or extremely. As an adverb it means very hot. So it's not considered as redundant info.

Examples:

Here in Houston, it was a scorching 93° today.

It was a scorching hot day.

The scorching desert heat

edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

Community

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answered Feb 01 '11 at 15:27

Manoochehr

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Shouldn't that be scorchingly hot? – SLaks Feb 01 '11 at 16:38
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Also, I'd suggest: "...it was a scorching 93˚ today." – Jimi Oke Feb 01 '11 at 18:44
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@SLaks: No, here scorching is an adverb. So we don't add "ly" to end of it. – Manoochehr Feb 01 '11 at 19:30
On what basis do you say this run-of-the-mill participle is sometimes (properly) an adverb? – Terry N Apr 22 '14 at 08:29

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:38

You're right, scorching heat (or scorchingly hot) appears at first glance to be redundant. Also, it is something of a stormy petrel (thank you again, Alex): You can't say something is scorchingly cold or scorchingly tepid.

Good writers might find a sharper way to express the heat, probably avoiding a cliché into the bargain. Still, in conversations and informal writing this kind of adjective (or adverb) is used simply as an intensifier. You'll agree, I'm sure, that scorching heat is many degrees more uncomfortable than mild heat. Is it as hot as extreme heat? I'm not sure. But both extreme and scorching heat refer to weather that is pretty damned hot.

In any case, something that is scorched is heated so as "to become dried out and lifeless" [Webster's] — so it has a particular meaning after all. There are all kinds of heat that do not cause things to become dried out and lifeless.

"avoiding a cliché into the bargain" -- that's either quite witty or quite unfortunate a way to phrase it. — Michael Lorton, Feb 01 '11 at 17:17

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 01 '11 at 19:05

Scorch, as a verb, means to burn slightly or to cause discoloration due to heat.

As an adjective, scorching can be used to emphasize that the following noun causes burns or discoloration. In that regard, "a scorching heat" implies that the heat causes burns or discoloration. It is roughly synonymous with burning.

why do we say scorching hot while scorching already means very hot?

3 Answers3