inflame
/ɪnˈfleɪm/ verb
Forms inflames inflaming inflamed inflamest inflamedst inflameth enflame
- verb To set (someone or something) on fire; to cause (someone or something) to burn, flame, or glow; to kindle.
- verb To cause (something) to appear bright or red, as if on fire; to brighten, to redden.
- verb To cause (the body or a body part) to feel abnormally or unusually hot; specifically (medicine), to cause inflammation, including abnormal heat, pain, redness, swelling, etc., in (the body or a body part). “to inflame the eyes by overwork”
- verb To cause (someone, or their heart, mind, etc.) to feel strong desire or other feelings; to excite (someone) to great passion; specifically, to cause (someone) to feel anger or rage; to anger, to enrage, to incense.
- verb To excite or intensify (a feeling, such as an appetite or passion), especially to an excessive or unnatural level. “to inflame desire”
- verb To cause (something intangible, such as a dispute or violence, or hunger or thirst) to become more serious or worse; to aggravate, to exacerbate.
- verb (obsolete) To increase (the price or quantity of something).
- verb To burst into flames, to catch fire.
Synonyms
aflame ignite alight conflagrate fire fire up enkindle light light up set ablaze set afire set aflame set alight set fire set on fire torch irritate exasperate affront aggravate kindle stir up wake heat
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English inflammen, enflamen, enflaumen (“to set (something) on fire; to be on fire; (figurative) to enrage (someone); to become enraged; to incite (someone) to do evil; to inspire (someone); (medicine) to cause inflammation of (a body part)”), from Old French enflamer, enflammer (“to set (something) on fire, inflame; to be on fire; (figurative) to fuel (a debate, hatred, etc.)”) (modern French enflammer), from Latin inflammāre, the present active infinitive of inflammō (“to set (something) on fire, inflame; (figurative) to excite (someone)”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘into; to, towards’) + flammō (“to set (something) on fire; to be on fire; (figurative) to incite (someone)”) (from flamma (“flame, fire; (figurative) passion”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-, *bʰl̥g- (“to blaze, burn; to glow, shine; bright flame, fire”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)). By surface analysis, in- (prefix meaning ‘into; to, towards’) + flame.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To set on fire; to kindle; to cause to burn, flame, or glow.
- verb Fig.: To kindle or intensify, as passion or appetite; to excite to an excessive or unnatural action or heat; as, to inflame desire.
- verb To grow morbidly hot, congested, or painful; to become angry or incensed. Wiseman.
Etymology [OE. enflamen, OF. enflamer, F. enflammer, L. inflammare,inflammatum; pref.in- in + flammare to flame, fr.flamma flame. See Flame.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “inflame”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details