arsonist

IPA/ˈɑːsənɪst/
KK[ˈɑrsənəst]IPA/ˈɑːrsənɪst/

arsonist — noun

  • arsonistsingular
  • arsonistsplural

1. someone who deliberately sets fire to a building or other property, which is a s

1.nounB2
Definition

someone who deliberately sets fire to a building or other property, which is a serious crime

Example

A suspected arsonist was arrested after the warehouse burned down last Tuesday.

collocation: suspected arsonist

Baraka was found guilty of setting fire to three shops and sentenced as an arsonist.

passive: was found guilty of / sentenced as

Common collocations
  • suspected arsonist
  • convicted arsonist
  • serial arsonist
  • arsonist + set fire to + [building]
  • arrest + arsonist
Synonyms
  • firebug

    informal term, mainly US; common in news headlines

  • incendiary

    formal or technical register; can also refer to devices or materials that cause fire

  • pyromaniac

    clinical term for someone with a psychological compulsion to set fires, not a legal status

Antonyms
  • firefighter

    a person trained to extinguish fires, opposite role

Usage Note

Frequently appears in news reports and legal contexts. Often modified by adjectives like 'suspected', 'convicted', or 'serial' before the noun.

Common Mistakes

The arsonist burned down the forest.
The arsonist set fire to the warehouse.
Arson usually refers to setting fire to buildings or property, not wild vegetation; wildfires are typically described differently.

Word family

  • arson
    nounB2
  • commit arson
    phraseB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Arsonist is the standard legal term for someone who deliberately sets fire to property, appearing in court documents and news reports. Firebug is an informal American English alternative common in headlines but not in formal writing. Incendiary is more technical and can also refer to bombs or devices that cause fires, whereas pyromaniac describes a clinical condition — someone with a psychological compulsion to set fires. For example, a news report may say 'police arrested a suspected arsonist' (legal charge), but a psychologist would say 'the patient is a pyromaniac' (clinical diagnosis).

arsonist ↗firebug ↗incendiary ↗pyromaniac

Common collocations

Phrases

  • suspect of arson
  • charge with arson
  • convicted of arson

Etymology

LatinAnglo-FrenchEnglish

Arsonist combines 'arson' (from Latin 'ardere' meaning 'to burn', which passed into English through Anglo-French 'arsoun' referring to the crime of setting fires) with the suffix '-ist' (denoting a person who does something). The word entered English in the late 19th century as a straightforward label for someone who commits arson.