incendiary

UK/ɪnˈsɛn.dɪ.əɹ.i//ɪnˈsɛn.di.ɛɹ.i/

incendiary adjective: capable of, or used for, or actually causing fire.

Adjective

incendiary (comparative more incendiary, superlative most incendiary)

Capable of, or used for, or actually causing fire.
- Driving 2-6-2 locomotive No. 4771 Green Arrow, Blunt suddenly noticed that the tunnel mouth was silhouetted in a dazzling white glare and that incendiary bombs were showering down in their hundreds, he slammed on all his brakes and brought his train to a stop just inside the tunnel.1944 July and August, “Top Link Drivers: XXI—Driver H. Blunt, L.N.E.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 226
- We saw photographs of bodies riddled with pellets from fragmentation bombs or charred by incendiary weapons (besides napalm, the Americans also drop white phosphorus, Thermit, and magnesium on the Vietnamese).1969, Susan Sontag, “Trip to Hanoi”, in Styles of Radical Will, Kindle edition, Penguin Modern Classics, published 2009, →ISBN, page 246
Of a damaging fire, intentionally caused rather than accidental.
- The Crown must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the fire was incendiary in origin; that is, it was not accidental and that it was either intentionally or recklessly set by the accused.2003 December 18, Adams, j., Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court, Trial Division, “R. v. Leite (F.), 2003 NLSCTD 181”, in CanLII, retrieved 03 Oct 2021
(figuratively) Intentionally stirring up strife, riot, rebellion.
- Earlier that year Italian Jews had come under serious attack when an incendiary publication, Gli ebrei in Italia (The Jews in Italy), had flooded the bookshops. The author, Paolo Orano, was a Fascist publicist whose book helped to harden Italian public sensibility against the Jews and pave the way...2014, Ian Thomson, Primo Levi: A Life, Metropolitan Books, →ISBN, page 123
(figuratively) Inflammatory, emotionally charged.
- Politics is an incendiary topic; it tends to cause fights to break out.

Noun

incendiary (plural incendiaries)

Something capable of causing fire, particularly a weapon.
- The military used incendiaries to destroy the building. Fortunately, the fire didn't spread.
One who maliciously sets fires.

Synonyms:

arsonist
(figuratively) One who excites or inflames factions into quarrels.
- March 7, 1692, Richard Bentley, The Folly of Atheism
  Several cities […] drove them out as incendiaries.
Synonyms:

agitator

incendiary meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam

incendiary in Hindi

incendiary, flammable: आग्नेय āgney

incendiary in Urdu

capable of causing fire: آتِش گیر ātiśgīr

incendiary in Malayalam

വീടുകൾക്കു കൊള്ളിവയ്ക്കുന്നവൻ, കലഹക്കാരൻ, വിപ്ലവകാരി, സ്ഫോടനബോംബ്

More languagesFewer languages

incendiary in Kannada: ಕಿಚ್ಚಿಡುವ, ದೊಂಬಿ ಎಬ್ಬಿಸುವ, ಬೆಂಕಿ ಹೊತ್ತಿಸುವ, ಉದ್ರೇಕಗೊಳಿಸುವ
incendiary in Arabic: تَحْرِيضِيّ taḥrīḍiyy

Examples of incendiary in a sentence

As though on an incendiary rampage, the fires systematically devoured the contents of Edison's headquarters and facilities.2006, Edwin Black, chapter 1, in Internal Combustion:
Earlier that year Italian Jews had come under serious attack when an incendiary publication, Gli ebrei in Italia (The Jews in Italy), had flooded the bookshops.2014, Ian Thomson, Primo Levi: A Life, Metropolitan Books, →ISBN, page 123:

All 17 example sentences with incendiary

Synonyms of incendiary

Forms of incendiary

Adjective
comparative	more incendiary
superlative	most incendiary
Noun
plural	incendiaries

Origin of incendiary

From Middle English incendiarie, from Old French incendiaire, from Latin incendiārius (“setting alight”), from incendium (“destructive fire”), from incendō (“to set on fire, kindle”), from in- (“into, in, on, upon”) + candeō (“to be hot”).

Words formed from incendiary

Questions about incendiary

What does incendiary mean?: Incendiary means capable of, or used for, or actually causing fire.
What is incendiary in Hindi?: Incendiary in Hindi is आग्नेय (āgney). See Incendiary meaning in Hindi.
How do you use incendiary in a sentence?: As though on an incendiary rampage, the fires systematically devoured the contents of Edison's headquarters and facilities.
What part of speech is incendiary?: Incendiary can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce incendiary?: Incendiary is pronounced /ɪnˈsɛn.dɪ.əɹ.i/ (UK).

Words near incendiary in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: incendiary (page history and authors); आग्नेय (Hindi) (page history and authors); Incendiary (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); incendiary (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); incendiary (Kannada Wiktionary) (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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-incendiary.ogg.

Cite this entry: “incendiary.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/incendiary. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.