incendiary
Americanadjective
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used or adapted for setting property on fire.
incendiary bombs.
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of or relating to the criminal setting on fire of property.
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tending to arouse strife, sedition, etc.; inflammatory.
incendiary speeches.
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tending to inflame the senses.
an incendiary extravaganza of music and dance.
noun
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incendiaries
plural
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a person who deliberately sets fire to buildings or other property, as an arsonist.
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Military. a shell, bomb, or grenade containing napalm, thermite, or some other substance that burns with an intense heat.
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a person who stirs up strife, sedition, etc.; an agitator.
adjective
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of or relating to the illegal burning of property, goods, etc
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tending to create strife, violence, etc; inflammatory
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(of a substance) capable of catching fire, causing fires, or burning readily
noun
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a person who illegally sets fire to property, goods, etc; arsonist
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(esp formerly) a person who stirs up civil strife, violence, etc, for political reasons; agitator
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Also called: incendiary bomb. a bomb that is designed to start fires
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an incendiary substance, such as phosphorus
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of incendiary
1600–10; < Latin incendiārius, equivalent to incendi ( um ) a fire ( incend ( ere ) to kindle ( in- in- 2 + -cendere, transitive v. from base of candēre to shine, be hot; see candent, candid, candor) + -ium -ium ) + -ārius -ary
Explanation
An incendiary device is a bomb. An incendiary statement is, "That idea is absolute garbage." Both are likely to produce an explosion of one kind or another. Incendiary means more than flammable. It means explosive, in both a literal and figurative way. If you're a radical who changes the world by exciting people and makes as many enemies as followers, you're an incendiary figure. The speeches you give that rile people up are incendiary. The fires you set are also incendiary, and by setting them you are also likely to be called an incendiary — someone who burns things, more commonly known as an arsonist.
Vocabulary lists containing incendiary
Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 3
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ACT Vocabulary List
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The Things They Carried
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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:
Stephen Galloway, dean of Chapman University’s film school, said the attention the movie has drawn since Musk’s post speaks to how incendiary some of its themes are.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
And while his screenplay is intentionally incendiary, Tuttle understands that extreme power lies in well-crafted provocation.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
Steve Burke, editor-in-chief of the media channel Gamers Nexus, has garnered millions of views on YouTube videos bearing incendiary titles such as “Nvidia’s AI Bubble” and “The Torture Will Continue Until Shareholder Value Improves.”
From MarketWatch ● May 23, 2026
The actors relish the pesky, droll, frequently adorable, sometimes incendiary individuality of their roles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2026
“Kilvin would probably call it an atmospherically activated incendiary action.”
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
SAN ANTONIO, Texas—Erika Kirk was standing center stage in a hotel ballroom, explaining the difference between earthly pleasures and heavenly joy, when a heckler interrupted her remarks to shout incendiaries at her.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
“However imperfect the evidence, there is too much of it to ignore the apparent fact that incendiaries deliberately ignited the great fire.”
From Washington Post ● Mar. 15, 2023
It was July 4, 1907, and the instigators were as striking as the incendiaries.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 18, 2021
"The sight of these incendiaries coming down, it was incredible, because we were looking at Townhill, and Townhill was looking across at us," she said.
From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2021
The expertise at distillation that medieval Islamic alchemists developed to produce alcohols and perfumes also let them distill petroleum into fractions, some of which proved to be even more powerful incendiaries.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
