inflammatory
Americanadjective
-
tending to arouse anger, hostility, passion, etc..
inflammatory speeches.
- Synonyms:
- provocative, incendiary, fiery
-
Pathology. of or caused by inflammation.
adjective
-
characterized by or caused by inflammation
-
tending to arouse violence, strong emotion, etc
Other Word Forms
- inflammatorily adverb
- noninflammatory adjective
- subinflammatory adjective
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.
“Because I think people have …” she pauses, “misspoken, and they have said very, very inflammatory things about that slogan, which has not helped the movement. Anything that might class as hate speech.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026
Magyar only left Orbán’s Fidesz party amid a corruption scandal two years ago, and has largely avoided discussing Putin, Zelenskyy or inflammatory culture-war topics.
From Salon • Apr. 12, 2026
The current investigation follows complaints made by Charlotte Smith, from Warwickshire, who described Cooke's post as "inappropriate and inflammatory".
From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026
Using gene expression analysis, protein measurements, and calcium imaging, the scientists tracked how these treatments affected important inflammatory markers.
From Science Daily • Apr. 9, 2026
The Court prohibited jurors from hearing “victim impact” statements because they were too inflammatory and introduced arbitrariness into the capital sentencing process.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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.
