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British

flammable

[ flam-uh-buhl ]

/ ˈflæm ə bəl /

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See synonyms for flammable on Thesaurus.com

adjective

easily set on fire; combustible; inflammable.

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Origin of flammable

First recorded in 1805–15; from Latin flammā(re) “to set on fire” + -ble

words often confused with flammable

See inflammable.

OTHER WORDS FROM flammable

flam·ma·bil·i·ty

[flam-uh-bil-i-tee], /ˌflæm əˈbɪl ɪ ti/, noun

Words nearby flammable

flaming sword, Flaminian Way, Flamininus, Flaminius, flammability, flammable, Flammarion, Flamsteed, flamy, flan, Flanagan

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use flammable in a sentence

The roof is already metal—a good thing—but the more I looked at the log cabin and its wooden deck and all the places embers could land and wedge in flammable places, I realized there was only so much we could do.
At Glacier’s Edge, the Flames Have Always Come for My Family Cabin|jversteegh|August 20, 2021|Outside Online
That’s because there’ll simply be less, or less flammable, fuel to burn.
The pandemic slashed the West Coast’s emissions. Wildfires already reversed it.|James Temple|July 27, 2021|MIT Technology Review
Usually, ordering the seizure of a country’s sovereign assets is a flammable move, and courts take their time to execute and enforce such orders.
A Scottish energy company is using foreign courts to seize Indian assets|Samanth Subramanian|July 8, 2021|Quartz
A record-breaking September heat wave, along with preceding summer heat, led to highly flammable vegetation west of the Cascades, a region that rarely sees severe fires.
Seattle, Portland and Spokane brace for ‘unprecedented’ heat wave|Jason Samenow, Diana Leonard|June 25, 2021|Washington Post

The barrier stops flammable gas migrating into surrounding buildings leading to multiple explosions.
Engineers raise alarms over the risk of major explosions at LNG plants|Will Englund|June 3, 2021|Washington Post
That can happen, according to the report, when (flammable) methane leaks out of fracking wells and into drinking water.
New York’s Conservative Fracking Ban|Jay Michaelson|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He doused himself with two plastic bottles of flammable liquids, and he set himself on fire.
Suicidal Anti-war Protest Shocks Japan as It Rethinks Pacifist Constitution|Angela Erika Kubo, Jake Adelstein|June 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Ordinary people flocked to the Maidan, burning anything flammable and uprooting hunks of pavement to throw at police.
Ukraine’s Bloody Crackdown Enters Its Third Day|Oleg Shynkarenko|February 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The cabin was quickly engulfed, accelerated by highly flammable tear gas.
How Christopher Dorner Went Down|Christine Pelisek|February 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Hearings for Supreme Court justices, decisions of war, flammable federal scandals.
Senate Panel Quizzes Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan on Colombian Prostitutes|Daniel Stone|May 23, 2012|DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for flammable

flammable

/ (ˈflæməbəl) /

adjective

liable to catch fire; readily combustible; inflammable

Derived forms of flammable

flammability, noun

usage for flammable

Flammable and inflammable are interchangeable when used of the properties of materials. Flammable is, however, often preferred for warning labels as there is less likelihood of misunderstanding (inflammable being sometimes taken to mean not flammable). Inflammable is preferred in figurative contexts: this could prove to be an inflammable situation

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