inflame
Americanverb (used with object)
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to kindle or excite (passions, desires, etc.).
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to arouse to a high degree of passion or feeling.
His harangue inflamed the rabble.
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to incite or rouse, as to violence.
His words inflamed the angry mob to riot.
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(of an emotion, as rage) to cause to redden or grow heated.
Uncontrollable rage inflamed his face.
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to cause inflammation in.
Her eyes were inflamed with crying.
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to raise (the blood, bodily tissue, etc.) to a morbid or feverish heat.
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to set aflame, ablaze, or afire; set on fire.
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to redden with or as with flames.
The setting sun inflames the sky.
verb (used without object)
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to burst into flame; take fire.
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to be kindled, as passion.
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to become hot with passion, as the heart.
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to become excessively affected with inflammation.
verb
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to arouse or become aroused to violent emotion
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(tr) to increase or intensify; aggravate
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to produce inflammation in (a tissue, organ, or part) or (of a tissue, etc) to become inflamed
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to set or be set on fire; kindle
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(tr) to cause to redden
Related Words
Other Word Forms
- inflamedness noun
- inflamer noun
- inflamingly adverb
- reinflame verb
- uninflamed adjective
Etymology
Origin of inflame
First recorded in 1300–50; in- 2 + flame; replacing Middle English enflammen, from Middle French enflammer, from Latin inflammāre “to kindle”
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.
All this is based on observations so obvious they’re hard to resist: War requires weaponry, the supply of oil is being choked, fear and uncertainty inflame the demand for gold.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026
The excess industrial capacity probe targets the European Union, China, Japan, India and others, and could inflame tensions with those trading partners.
From Barron's • Mar. 11, 2026
If one spouse exerts control and the other is disengaged or kept out of the loop, filing tax returns can inflame tensions and drive a wedge into the relationship.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 5, 2026
"But their intervention when it came did little more than inflame tensions," she said.
From BBC • Feb. 21, 2026
“But questions of this sort inflame the public mind. . . .”
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
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.
