inflammatory
Americanadjective
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tending to arouse anger, hostility, passion, etc..
inflammatory speeches.
- Synonyms:
- provocative, incendiary, fiery
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Pathology. of or caused by inflammation.
adjective
-
characterized by or caused by inflammation
-
tending to arouse violence, strong emotion, etc
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inflammatory
First recorded in 1725–35; from Latin inflammāt(us) “kindled” (past participle of inflammāre “to kindle”; see inflame) + -ory 1
Explanation
In medical terms, something that is inflammatory causes a local reaction that shows up by swelling, heat, pain, and redness. If you are stung by a bee, you may have an acute inflammatory reaction to the sting. The adjective inflammatory also refers to something that excites anger, violence, rebellion, or similar strong emotions, in many cases referring to speech or writing. If you are a politician, inflammatory speeches may be one tool you use to incite your constituents to vote against the corruption of your opponent. After all, a stirring speech about rights people may lose if an election goes a certain way is more likely to get out the vote than a more understated discussion.
Vocabulary lists containing inflammatory
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 5
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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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.
Some experts mentioned other technological solutions to help with public health: namely, the tweaking of algorithms to make it so the most inflammatory accounts aren’t always rewarded.
From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026
Its underlying cause is not known, but some experts think it could be linked to stress, trauma or a response to a virus or other inflammatory condition.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
"Having shown that female-biased genes are heavily enriched in inflammatory pathways, we now have another biological rationale for why the immune system can more easily mistakenly attack the body's own tissues in women."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
Observer missions called for parties to tone down inflammatory statements as the votes cast on Thursday were tallied, and some teams extended their deployment because of the tensions.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
Suffering from an enlarged heart and inflammatory rheumatism, he nevertheless continued to plow his fields the old-fashioned way—behind a team of mules.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
