inflame

[ in-fleym ]

/ ɪnˈfleɪm /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR inflame ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), in·flamed, in·flam·ing.

to kindle or excite (passions, desires, etc.).

to arouse to a high degree of passion or feeling: His harangue inflamed the rabble.

to incite or rouse, as to violence: His words inflamed the angry mob to riot.

(of an emotion, as rage) to cause to redden or grow heated: Uncontrollable rage inflamed his face.

to cause inflammation in: Her eyes were inflamed with crying.

to raise (the blood, bodily tissue, etc.) to a morbid or feverish heat.

to set aflame, ablaze, or afire; set on fire.

to redden with or as with flames: The setting sun inflames the sky.

verb (used without object), in·flamed, in·flam·ing.

to burst into flame; take fire.

to be kindled, as passion.

to become hot with passion, as the heart.

to become excessively affected with inflammation.

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Words nearby inflame

infirmarian, infirmary, infirmity, infix, infl., inflame, inflammable, inflammation, inflammatory, inflammatory bowel disease, inflammatory carcinoma

Also enflame.

Origin of inflame

1300–50; in-² + flame; replacing Middle English enflammen < Middle French enflammer < Latin inflammāre to kindle

ANTONYMS FOR inflame

2 cool, soothe.

SEE ANTONYMS FOR inflame ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM inflame

in·flam·ed·ness

[in-fley-mid-nis] /ɪnˈfleɪ mɪd nɪs/, nounin·flam·er, nounin·flam·ing·ly, adverbre·in·flame, verb, re·in·flamed, re·in·flam·ing.

un·in·flamed, adjective

synonym study for inflame

1–3. See incite. 7. See kindle¹.

Example sentences from the Web for inflamed

We saw how such provocative actions only inflamed passions and escalated the unrest.
Awaiting the Grand Jury, Dread in Ferguson and America|Gene Robinson|November 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And that small concession by Abe inflamed critics in Japan, who called it “a losing strategy.”
Beijing’s ‘Star Trek’ APEC Summit|Jake Adelstein|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
An earache in a child with a perfectly normal exam is more difficult to figure out than one with a bulging and inflamed eardrum.
DEA's Painkiller Crackdown Too Little, Too Late?|Russell Saunders|August 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But will adding the real military defuse a situation many say has been inflamed by aggressive police?
Can the National Guard Really Help Calm an Already Militarized Ferguson?|Jacob Siegel|August 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST

But no boundaries in the world are as inflamed as those between Israel and the Palestinian territories.
War of Words Between Israel and UN Continues|Betsy Pisik|August 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The man called Sam flashed an ugly look out of his foxy, inflamed eyes and went out on deck.
The River Motor Boat Boys on the Mississippi|Harry Gordon
Sometimes the parotid and submaxillary glands were inflamed; petechiae were absent.
A History of Epidemics in Britain, Volume II (of 2)|Charles Creighton
The revengeful way-path rocks had bitten into his inflamed knees.
The Red Debt|Everett MacDonald
His face was inflamed, his eyes bloodshot; drink had changed him into a very demon.
My Lady of the North|Randall Parrish
He tried to peer deep into his daughter for a moment, his inflamed face relaxing neither in its harshness nor its doubt of her.
Children of the Whirlwind|Leroy Scott

British Dictionary definitions for inflamed

inflame

/ (ɪnˈfleɪm) /

verb

to arouse or become aroused to violent emotion

(tr) to increase or intensify; aggravate

to produce inflammation in (a tissue, organ, or part) or (of a tissue, etc) to become inflamed

to set or be set on fire; kindle

(tr) to cause to redden

Derived forms of inflame

inflamer, nouninflamingly, adverb

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