inflame

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See also: inflamé

English

Etymology

From Middle English inflammen, enflamen, enflaumen, from Old French enflammer (to inflame), from Latin inflammō (to kindle, set on fire, verb), from in (in, on) + flamma (flame), equivalent to in- +‎ flame.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɪnˈfleɪm/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪm
  • Hyphenation: in‧flame

Verb

inflame (third-person singular simple present inflames, present participle inflaming, simple past and past participle inflamed)

  1. (transitive) To set on fire; to kindle; to cause to burn, flame, or glow.
  2. (transitive, figuratively) To kindle or intensify (a feeling, as passion or appetite); to excite to an excessive or unnatural action or heat.
    to inflame desire
  3. (transitive) To provoke (a person) to anger or rage; to exasperate; to irritate; to incense; to enrage.
  4. (transitive) To put in a state of inflammation; to produce morbid heat, congestion, or swelling, of.
    to inflame the eyes by overwork
  5. To exaggerate; to enlarge upon.
  6. (intransitive) To grow morbidly hot, congested, or painful; to become angry or incensed.
    • 1941, Theodore Roethke, “Feud”, in Open House; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, 1975, →ISBN, page 4:
      You meditate upon the nerves,
      Inflame with hate. This ancient feud
      Is seldom won. []

Alternative forms

Synonyms

(set on fire): kindle, fire (intensify or excite (feeling)): provoke, kindle, arouse, excite (provoke a person to anger): incense, irritate, enrage, exasperate, anger

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

Anagrams

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 
 

  • Rhymes: (Portugal) -ɐmɨ, (Brazil) -ɐ̃mi
  • Hyphenation: in‧fla‧me

Verb

inflame

  1. inflection of inflamar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Verb

inflame

  1. inflection of inflamar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative
  2. second-person singular voseo imperative of inflar combined with me