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combustible. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
combustible, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
combustible in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
combustible you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From Middle French combustible, equivalent to combust + -ible.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kəmˈbʌstɪbəl/
- Hyphenation: com‧bust‧i‧ble
Adjective
combustible (comparative more combustible, superlative most combustible)
- Capable of burning.
- Synonyms: flammable; inflammable (in one of its contranymic senses)
- Antonyms: incombustible, noncombustible; nonflammable, noninflammable, unflammable; inflammable (in one of its contranymic senses), fireproof, refractory
- Hyponym: flammable
- Coordinate terms: fire-resistant, fire-retardant, flame-retardant
Dumping fertilizer on top of whatever mysterious goop was in the storage tank created a combustible mix which caught fire.
1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:Sin is to the soul like fire to combustible matter.
2023 March 22, “Network News: Class 175s withdrawn for safety checks after fires”, in RAIL, number 979, page 13:The rest were undergoing special underbody cleaning safety checks at TfW depots, after speculation that the cause of the incidents may have been a build-up of engine oil and combustible material such as fallen leaves and general detritus.
- (figurative, dated) Easily kindled or excited; quick; fiery; irascible.
- Antonyms: incombustible, noncombustible
1855–1859, Washington Irving, The Life of George Washington:Arnold, however, was a combustible character.
2022 October 26, Cade Metz, Adam Satariano, Chang Che, “How Elon Musk Became a Geopolitical Chaos Agent”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:The world’s richest man has inserted himself in some of the world’s most combustible conflicts.
Derived terms
Translations
Noun
combustible (plural combustibles)
- A material that is capable of burning.
1890, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 2, page 248:A wheel, wrapt in combustibles, was kindled and rolled down the hill.
- (tobacco industry) A cigarette or a similar product intended for smoking, as opposed to an electronic cigarette.
2025 June 14, “Big Tobacco stock rally reveals smokeless future is still a long way off”, in FT Weekend, Lex., page 16:In total three-quarters of the western Big Tobacco giants' sales last year came from so-called combustibles as vaping sales are plateauing.
Translations
material capable of burning
Catalan
Pronunciation
Adjective
combustible m or f (masculine and feminine plural combustibles)
- combustible
Noun
combustible m (plural combustibles)
- combustible, fuel
Further reading
- “combustible”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies , 2007 April
- “combustible”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
- “combustible” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “combustible” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
French
Etymology
From combustion + -ible.
Pronunciation
Noun
combustible m (plural combustibles)
- combustible
Adjective
combustible (plural combustibles)
- combustible
Further reading
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kombusˈtible/
- Rhymes: -ible
- Syllabification: com‧bus‧ti‧ble
Adjective
combustible m or f (masculine and feminine plural combustibles)
- combustible
Noun
combustible m (plural combustibles)
- fuel
Derived terms
Further reading