Word.ws English Dictionary

boutefeu

boutefeu noun: an incendiary; an inciter of quarrels.

Noun

boutefeu (plural boutefeus)

  1. (obsolete) An incendiary; an inciter of quarrels.
    • Animated by […] John a Chamber, a very boutefeu, […] they entered into open rebellion.1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret...
    • But we, who only do infuse / The rage in them like boutè-feus, / 'Tis our example that instils / In them th' infection of our ills.1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]. Canto I.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678...
    Synonyms:
    firebrand

Synonyms of boutefeu

Forms of boutefeu

pluralboutefeus
alternative formboutè-feu

Origin of boutefeu

Borrowed from French boutefeu, from bouter (“to thrust, put”) + feu (“fire”).

Questions about boutefeu

What does boutefeu mean?
Boutefeu means an incendiary; an inciter of quarrels.
What part of speech is boutefeu?
Boutefeu is a noun.
What is the plural of boutefeu?
The plural of boutefeu is boutefeus.

Words near boutefeu in the dictionary

  1. boutcha
  2. boutchas
  3. Boutcher
  4. boutchu
  5. bouted
  6. boutefeu
  7. boutefeus
  8. Bouteldja
  9. Bouteldjas
  10. boutell
  11. Boutelle

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: boutefeu (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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