combustible
Americanadjective
-
capable of catching fire and burning; inflammable; flammable.
Gasoline vapor is highly combustible.
-
easily excited.
a high-strung, combustible nature.
noun
adjective
-
capable of igniting and burning
-
easily annoyed; excitable
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of combustible
From the Late Latin word combūstibilis, dating back to 1520–30. See combust, -ible
Explanation
Combustible means "able to catch fire," like matches or the extremely dry forest floors that people sometimes forget are combustible — until they go up in flames. When the adjective combustible first entered the English language in the sixteenth century, it was used to describe things that burn easily. The word soon came to apply not only to objects that ignite but also to tempers that are prone to "catch fire" easily. If you’ve ever been around a person who has a combustible temper, you can understand the connection.
Vocabulary lists containing combustible
Automobiles
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100 Great Words from "Fahrenheit 451" -- Part I Vocabulary
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The Great Fire
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Knicks fans—a combustible bunch at the best of times—were calling for the first-year coach to be fired, for expensive stars to be shipped off, and for the roster to be torn down and reassembled.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 5, 2026
Realism is achieved not through bare-bones scenic furniture but through the combustible relationships of characters who exist with one another in a purgatory of disillusionment.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026
Residents would have to replace the first five feet of any combustible fencing or gates attached to their house with something made out of a noncombustible material, such as metal.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2026
The combustible Russian has made no secret of his dislike of playing on clay, previously describing it as "a surface for losers".
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026
It was difficult to think of the ever-combative, highly combustible champion of the American Revolution as extraneous and invisible, but that is what the vice presidency had made him.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
