burnt
UK/bɜːnt//bɝnt/
burnt is the simple past and past participle of burn.
Adjective
burnt (comparative more burnt, superlative most burnt)
- Damaged or injured by fire or heat.
- The burnt and bleeding man staggered to his feet, dazed and unbelieving, and asked the startled townspeople who came running whether his fireman and guard were safe. He was kept away from the smouldering crater where his engine had been, and taken to hospital.2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43
- Carbonised.
- The toast was too burnt to eat.
- Having a sunburn.
- Being darker than standard, especially browner.
Meaning of burn
Verb
burn (third-person singular simple present burns, present participle burning, simple past and past participle burned or (chiefly Commonwealth) burnt or (obsolete) brent)
- To be consumed by fire or in flames.
- He watched the house burn.
- To contain a fire or coals.
- The wood stove was burning, giving off plenty of heat.
- To become overheated to the point of being unusable; to become scorched.
- The grill was too hot and the steak burned.
- To be executed by an electric chair.
- In this state, he could burn for his crimes.
- To be hot, e.g. due to embarrassment.
- The child’s forehead was burning with fever. Her cheeks burned with shame.
- To approach near to a concealed object which is sought, especially in certain games; to be so near as to be figuratively burnt by a hidden target.
- You’re cold… warm… hot… you’re burning!
Noun
burnt (uncountable)
- Char.
- You might also try 5star PBX organic cleaner. This stuff is amazing. Found at your local beer and wine brewers supply store, this stuff will clean the "burnt" off the bottom of your pans.2003 December 1, Darrell, “Toilet Bowl Stains”, in alt.home.repair (Usenet)
Forms of burnt
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| alternative form | burned |
| alternative form (obsolete) | brent |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more burnt |
| superlative | most burnt |
Origin of burnt
Inherited from Middle English brent, brynt; by surface analysis, burn + t.
Words formed from burnt
- a burnt child dreads the fire
- better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick
- Burnt Bridge
- burnt cream
- burnt ear
- burnt ends
- Burnt Hills
- burnt knight
- burnt lime
- burntness
- Burnt Oak
- burnt offering
- burnt orange
- burnt out
- Burnt Pine
- burnt run
- burnt sienna
- burnt-tailed barb
- burnt toast theory
- burnt umber
- Burnt Yards
- Burnt Yates
- inburnt
- mowburnt
- overburnt
- over-burnt
- sunburnt
- the burnt child dreads the fire
- the burnt child fears the fire
- unburnt
- windburnt
Phrases with burnt
- burnt in
- burnt up
- burnt off
- burnt away
- burnt coal
- burnt down
- burnt ears
- burnt bread
- Burnt Ranch
- burnt rubber
- burnt umbers
- Burnt Islands
33 more phrasesFewer phrases
- burnt knights
- burnt oranges
- burnt siennas
- burnt through
- burnt daylight
- burnt one down
- burnt pavement
- burnt the coal
- burnt the roof
- burnt offerings
- burnt the water
- turned or burnt
- burnt to a crisp
- dumped and burnt
- Little Burnt Bay
- burnt one's boats
- burnt one's toast
- I've burnt myself
- burnt one's bridges
- burnt one's fingers
- burnt someone's ass
- burnt someone's ears
- burnt the midnight oil
- get one's fingers burnt
- got one's fingers burnt
- fiddled while Rome burnt
- gets one's fingers burnt
- burnt someone at the stake
- gotten one's fingers burnt
- getting one's fingers burnt
- burnt the candle at both ends
- burnt a hole in someone's pocket
- burnt that bridge when one came to it
Words that rhyme with burnt
Questions about burnt
- What does burnt mean?
- Burnt means damaged or injured by fire or heat.
- What is burnt the simple past and past participle of?
- Burnt is the simple past and past participle of burn.
- What part of speech is burnt?
- Burnt can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce burnt?
- Burnt is pronounced /bɜːnt/ (UK).
Words near burnt in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: burnt (page history and authors); burn (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-burnt.ogg.
Cite this entry: “burnt.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/burnt. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.