inflammable
/ɪnˈflæməbəl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.14 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
adj
Incapable of burning; not easily set on fire. From in- + flammable, via backformation.
Example Sentences
- "On he went a few paces and touched a second, then a third, and a fourth, till at last we were surrounded on all three sides by a great ring of bodies flaring furiously, the material with which they were preserved having rendered them so inflammable that the flames would literally spout out of the ears and mouth in tongues of fire a foot or more in length."
Etymology
From Middle French inflammable, from Medieval Latin īnflammābilis, from Latin īnflammāre (“to set on fire”), from in (“in, on”) + flamma (“flame”). By surface analysis, inflame + -able, literally “able to be inflamed”.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: inflammable, īnflammābilis, inflammo
Inflected Forms
more inflammable (comparative)
most inflammable (superlative)
enflammable (alternative, rare)
inflammables (plural)