Word.ws English Dictionary

flamebait

flamebait noun: content in an online forum, such as a newsgroup, with the intent of provoking anger, resulting in flames and sometimes flame wars.

Noun

flamebait (uncountable)

  1. (Internet, dated) Content in an online forum, such as a newsgroup, with the intent of provoking anger, resulting in flames and sometimes flame wars.
    Synonyms:
    ragebait

Synonyms of flamebait

Origin of flamebait

From flame + -bait (manipulation to elicit a particular response).

Questions about flamebait

What does flamebait mean?
Flamebait means content in an online forum, such as a newsgroup, with the intent of provoking anger, resulting in flames and sometimes flame wars.
What part of speech is flamebait?
Flamebait is a noun.

Words near flamebait in the dictionary

  1. flame-thrower
  2. flameable
  3. flameage
  4. flameback
  5. flamebacks
  6. flamebait
  7. flamecrest
  8. flamecrests
  9. flamed
  10. flamed out
  11. flamed up

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: flamebait (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-flamebait.wav.

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