inflame

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See also: inflamé

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English inflammen, enflamen, enflaumen, from Old French enflammer (“to inflame”), from Latin inflammō (“to kindle, set on fire”, verb), from in (“in, on”) + flamma (“flame”), equivalent to in- +‎ flame.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ɪnˈfleɪm/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪm
  • Hyphenation: in‧flame

Verb[edit]

inflame (third-person singular simple present inflames, present participle inflaming, simple past and past participle inflamed)

  1. (transitive) To set on fire; to kindle; to cause to burn, flame, or glow.
  2. (transitive, figuratively) To kindle or intensify (a feeling, as passion or appetite); to excite to an excessive or unnatural action or heat.
    to inflame desire
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC:
      more, it seems, inflamed with lust than rage
    • 1690, John Dryden, Creator Spirit! by whose aid:
      But, O inflame and fire our hearts.
    • 2017 August 25, "Arrest threat as Yingluck Shinawatra misses verdict", in aljazeera.com, Al Jazeera:
      The long-awaited verdict could inflame tension in the Southeast Asian country and have far-reaching implications in the politically divided kingdom.
  3. (transitive) To provoke (a person) to anger or rage; to exasperate; to irritate; to incense; to enrage.
    • 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
      It will inflame you; it will make you mad.
    • 1692 (indicated as 1693), Cotton Mather, “Enchantments Encountred”, in The Wonders of the Invisible World. Observations as well Historical as Theological, upon the Nature, the Number, and the Operations of the Devils. […], Boston, Mass.: […] Benjamin Harris, →OCLC:
      To VVrangle the Devil, out of the Country, vvill be truly a Nevv Experiment! Alas, vve are not Avvare of the Devil, if vve do not think, that he aims at Enflaming us one againſt another; & ſhall vve ſuffer our ſelves to be Devil-Ridden? or, by any Vnadviſableneſs, contribute unto the VVidening of our Breaches?
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      To Edward […] he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.
    • April 5 2022, Tina Brown, “How Princess Diana’s Dance With the Media Impacted William and Harry”, in Vanity Fair‎[1]:
      Even though no one had known about the plan in advance, the paparazzi were waiting at the door as they left the nightclub. Lalvani told me, “Whether Harry’s Bar called them or she tipped them off, I don’t know.” (I think we do.) He realizes now that she was using him to inflame the true object of her affections, Hasnat Khan. The pictures of Lalvani and Diana that appeared the next day were the whole point.
      adapted from the book The Palace Papers, published 2022 by Penguin Books
  4. (transitive) To put in a state of inflammation; to produce morbid heat, congestion, or swelling, of.
    to inflame the eyes by overwork
  5. To exaggerate; to enlarge upon.
  6. (intransitive) To grow morbidly hot, congested, or painful; to become angry or incensed.
    • 1941, Theodore Roethke, “Feud”, in Open House; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, 1975, →ISBN, page 4:
      You meditate upon the nerves,
      Inflame with hate. This ancient feud
      Is seldom won. […]

Alternative forms[edit]

Synonyms[edit]

(set on fire): kindle, fire (intensify or excite (feeling)): provoke, kindle, arouse, excite (provoke a person to anger): incense, irritate, enrage, exasperate, anger

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Portuguese[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

 
 

  • Rhymes: (Portugal) -ɐmɨ, (Brazil) -ɐ̃mi
  • Hyphenation: in‧fla‧me

Verb[edit]

inflame

  1. inflection of inflamar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish[edit]

Verb[edit]

inflame

  1. inflection of inflamar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative
  2. second-person singular voseo imperative of inflar combined with me
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