incendiary
/ɪnˈsɛn.di.ɛɹ.i/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.05 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
5
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of a damaging fire, intentionally caused rather than accidental.
adj
adj
noun
One who maliciously sets fires.
Example Sentences
- "Driving 2-6-2 locomotive No. 4771 Green Arrow, Blunt suddenly noticed that the tunnel mouth was silhouetted in a dazzling white glare and that incendiary bombs were showering down in their hundreds, he slammed on all his brakes and brought his train to a stop just inside the tunnel."
- "We saw photographs of bodies riddled with pellets from fragmentation bombs or charred by incendiary weapons (besides napalm, the Americans also drop white phosphorus, Thermit, and magnesium on the Vietnamese)."
- "Blast after blast, fiery outbreak after fiery outbreak, like a flaming barrage from within,[…]most of Edison's grounds soon became an inferno. As though on an incendiary rampage, the fires systematically devoured the contents of Edison's headquarters and facilities."
- "The Crown must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the fire was incendiary in origin; that is, it was not accidental and that it was either intentionally or recklessly set by the accused."
- "Earlier that year Italian Jews had come under serious attack when an incendiary publication, Gli ebrei in Italia (The Jews in Italy), had flooded the bookshops. The author, Paolo Orano, was a Fascist publicist whose book helped to harden Italian public sensibility against the Jews and pave the way for their eventual persecution."
- "Politics is an incendiary topic; it tends to cause fights to break out."
Etymology
From Middle English incendiarie, from Old French incendiaire, from Latin incendiārius (“setting alight”), from incendium (“destructive fire”), from incendō (“to set on fire, kindle”), from in- (“into, in, on, upon”) + candeō (“to be hot”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: incendiarie, incendiaire, incendiārius
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɪnˈsɛn.di.ɛɹ.i/
- British English: /ɪnˈsɛn.dɪ.əɹ.i/