pyromaniac
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of pyromaniac
Explanation
Someone who loves to set fires — and, for whatever reason, can't stop setting them — is a pyromaniac. Maniac is a word attached to many words for mental illness, but this has to be one of the most scary. A pyromaniac has a frequent, powerful desire to set fires. This is different from an arsonist, who sets fires for money. Pyromaniacs just set fires because they want to and feel a compulsion to. Pyromania is a sickness. A pyromaniac could also be someone who loves watching fires.
Vocabulary lists containing pyromaniac
It's Madness!: Mania
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The Unteachables
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The Shining
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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.
See Examples For:
Brendan Fraser, having already done stellar work for WB/DC in the HBO Max series “Doom Patrol,” was “Batgirl’s” villain, the pyromaniac Firefly.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 3, 2022
“He’s the pyromaniac, but you gave him kindling,” Chris, the journalist, tells the others.
From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 2022
Given how horribly everything else seems to be going, we could all probably benefit from following his example and enjoying a few deep belly laughs at the expense of these pyromaniac boneheads:
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2018
I love this tradition, being a Devon lad – and a bit of a pyromaniac.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 30, 2018
They thought I was a pyromaniac and a liar, and the fact that I myself never seemed to get burned was as good as proof.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
True pyromaniacs — people with an impulse disorder characterized by a compulsive need to set things on fire — do exist, but they are a rare breed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2025
More still are convinced that pyromaniacs who want to spark chaos are the behind most blazes.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2023
The ban, combined with an existing prohibition on fireworks in unincorporated areas, is meant to discourage would-be pyromaniacs from accidentally laying waste to their neighbors’ houses or setting off wildfires that blacken hundreds of acres.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 3, 2023
In these years, largely in the service of Big Energy, he and his crew have transformed themselves into so many pyromaniacs.
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2020
His anecdotes and comments as to pyromaniacs of different kinds were as entertaining and curious as anything recorded by Gaboriau.
From Memoirs by Leland, Charles Godfrey
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.
