arsonist

American  

[ahr-suh-nist] / ˈɑr sə nɪst /

noun

• arsonists
  plural

1. a person who commits arson.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• arsonists
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of arsonist

First recorded in 1860–65; arson + -ist

---

Explanation

An arsonist is someone who deliberately sets houses on fire. Investigators who find empty gas cans near the scene of a blaze tend to suspect an arsonist is responsible. Arsonists destroy property by burning it; that can mean setting fire to buildings, boats, cars, or forested land. An arsonist's motives can include collecting insurance money after burning their own property — or violent revenge, by burning someone else's. The crime they're committing is arson, which is usually a felony because it's so destructive and dangerous. The Latin root of arsonist means "to burn."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

arsonist arsonists

“This is no different than the arsonist putting out the fire.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2025

Indeed, Mark Zuckerberg offering Instagram-specific screen-time reports and time limits has the whiff of an arsonist handing out firefighting tips.

From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2025

Investigators discovered that the man in the video and the alleged arsonist was the president of the Screamin’ Demons Motorcycle Club, according to the release.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2025

He became the arsonist who laid claim to being the heroic firefighter.

From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2025

On February 27, 1933, one month after Hitler’s appointment, a known Communist and arsonist set fire to the Reichstag, the parliamentary building.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

To prevent this, he says, we must “block the arsonists on both sides at a distance: those who set fire to people’s souls, the incendiaries of the mind.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

Farinacci had been struggling since the birth of his son in May 2025, according to the affidavit, and became fascinated with fires and arsonists.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

His government banned construction on land affected by the blazes, and pledged harsher penalties for arsonists.

From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2025

He bragged of catching more than 40 serial arsonists, and explored their methods and psychology in articles for American Fire Journal.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2025

These different features are then arranged so that a great variety of clergymen, murderers, senators, embezzlers, artists, dynamiters, humorists, arsonists, larcenists, poets, statesmen, base ball players, rinkists, pianists, capitalists, bigamists and sluggists are easily represented.

From Remarks by Bill Nye

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---