fiery

[fahyuhr-ee, fahy-uh-ree]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fiery ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, fier·i·er, fier·i·est.

consisting of, attended with, characterized by, or containing fire: a volcano's fiery discharge.

intensely hot: fiery desert sands.

like or suggestive of fire: a fiery red; angry, fiery eyes.

intensely ardent, impetuous, or passionate: fiery courage; a fiery speech.

easily angered or provoked: a fiery temper.

causing a burning sensation, as certain liquors or condiments.

inflamed, as a tumor or sore.

Mining Older Use.

highly flammable.
containing highly flammable gas.

Origin of fiery

First recorded in 1225–75, fiery is from the Middle English word fi(e)ry. See fire, -y¹

Related formsfier·i·ly, adverbfier·i·ness, nounun·fier·y, adjective

Synonyms for fiery

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fiery ON THESAURUS.COM

3. flaming, flashing, glowing, burning. 4. fervent, vehement, spirited, impassioned.

Antonyms for fiery

2–4. cool, cold. 4. dispassionate.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for fiery

excitable, red-hot, burning, vehement, impassioned, combustible, flaming, glowing, blazing, hot, spirited, violent, heated, fierce, intense, ablaze, afire, alight, choleric, enthusiastic

Examples from the Web for fiery

Contemporary Examples of fiery

There was Milan Hruška, a fiery miner from the North Bohemian coal mines.
How Havel Inspired the Velvet Revolution
Michael Zantovsky
December 6, 2014
Next door, a strip mall popped and hissed as unknown accelerants aided in its fiery destruction.
Raging Protesters Set Ferguson on Fire
Justin Glawe
November 25, 2014
Shortly after leaving Stanleyville, Richard Holm and a Cuban pilot went down in a fiery plane crash.
‘Argo’ in the Congo: The Ghosts of the Stanleyville Hostage Crisis
Nina Strochlic
November 23, 2014
The fiery first-term conservative won narrowly over Democrat Mike Michaud Tuesday night.
Republican Wave Carries Maine Governor Paul LePage to Victory
Ben Jacobs
November 5, 2014
The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.
Lincoln Was the Founders’ Heir Apparent
Harvey J. Kaye
October 22, 2014

Historical Examples of fiery

My brother is hot and fiery; Mr Chatterton is rash and headstrong.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327
Various
Then he raised the marshal's head and gave him a sip of the fiery stuff.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
It needed but that to add fresh fuel to the fiery mood of the prelate.
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
The other boys did attempt it, however, simply to tease and annoy the fiery Corsican.
The Boy Life of Napoleon
Eugenie Foa
As for his rage, there is no telling what a fiery furnace it had now got to be.
Tanglewood Tales
Nathaniel Hawthorne

British Dictionary definitions for fiery

fiery

adjective fierier or fieriest

of, containing, or composed of fire

resembling fire in heat, colour, ardour, etca fiery desert wind; a fiery speaker

easily angered or arouseda fiery temper

(of food) producing a burning sensationa fiery curry

(of the skin or a sore) inflamed

flammable or containing flammable gas

(of a cricket pitch) making the ball bounce dangerously high

Derived Formsfierily, adverbfieriness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fiery

adj.

late 13c., from Middle English fier "fire" (see fire (n.)) + -y (2). The spelling is a relic of one of the attempts to render Old English "y" in fyr in a changing system of vowel sounds. Related: Fieriness.