pyromaniac

[ pahy-ruh-mey-nee-ak ]

noun

1. someone with a compulsion to set things on fire:

   One theory is that pyromaniacs simply love fires and the damage they cause, and so they start them.

Other Words From

• py·ro·ma·ni·a·cal [pahy-roh-m, uh, -, nahy, -, uh, -k, uh, l] adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pyromaniac¹

pyromani(a) ( def ) + -ac ( def )

Example Sentences

“My gut is telling me it is a pyromaniac having a good time and likes watching the buildings burn,” he says.

From The Daily Beast

But when Romney uses in a speech the same phrase the president uses, he is a “race-mongering pyromaniac.”

From The Daily Beast

Now, people can have a lot of legitimate criticisms of Mitt Romney, and I have some of my own, but a “race-mongering pyromaniac?”

From The Daily Beast

They could not feel worse if they learned that the child was a thief or a pyromaniac.

From Project Gutenberg