incendiary

IPA/ɪnˈsendiəri/
KK[ˌɪnsˈɛndiɛri]IPA/ɪnˈsendieri/

incendiary — adjective

  • incendiarypositive
  • more incendiarycomparative
  • most incendiarysuperlative

1. made or used to start fires on purpose, especially as a weapon or in an act of a

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

made or used to start fires on purpose, especially as a weapon or in an act of arson.

Example

Salma reported that an incendiary device had been left outside the police station.

collocation: incendiary device / bomb / weapon

Wartime planes dropped incendiary bombs on the city to set wooden houses on fire.

attributive use before a concrete noun (bomb)

Common collocations
  • incendiary device
  • incendiary bomb
  • incendiary attack
  • incendiary round
Synonyms
  • flammable

    describes anything that catches fire easily; not limited to weapons

  • combustible

    more technical; about a material's ability to burn

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

incendiary + noun (device, bomb, attack, weapon)

Usage Note

Almost always attributive (before a noun) with weapons or fire-starting materials: device, bomb, weapon, round, grenade, mixture. Not used after 'be' to describe a person.

Common Mistakes

The candle is incendiary.
The candle started the fire.
'incendiary' describes weapons or arson materials made to cause fires on purpose, not ordinary things that happen to burn.

2. likely to make people very angry or push them toward violence, used about words,

2.adjectiveC1
Definition

likely to make people very angry or push them toward violence, used about words, speeches, or writing on sensitive topics.

Example

Hamza pulled the article from the website after readers called its headline incendiary.

predicative use: be / call X incendiary

The senator gave an incendiary speech that quickly spread through social media overnight.

collocation: incendiary speech / remarks / rhetoric

Common collocations
  • incendiary speech
  • incendiary remarks
  • incendiary rhetoric
  • incendiary article
Synonyms
  • inflammatory

    very close in meaning; slightly more common in news writing

  • provocative

    wider scope; meant to provoke any reaction, not only anger

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

incendiary + speech / language / remark / article

Usage Note

Topic is almost always something politically or socially sensitive (race, religion, migration, war). Distinguish from sense 1: only sense 2 describes speech, writing, or behaviour; sense 1 describes weapons and arson materials.

Common Mistakes

Her funny joke was incendiary.
Her racist joke was incendiary.
only words on a serious, sensitive topic count as incendiary; an ordinary joke does not.

incendiary — noun

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/2

All four describe language that stirs up strong feelings, but they differ in intensity and target. 'Incendiary' and 'inflammatory' are very close — both suggest words that could light a 'fire' of anger or violence, often in news writing about politics, race, or religion. 'Incendiary' is slightly stronger and more dramatic; journalists pick it when they want to imply that violence might actually follow. 'Inflammatory' is more neutral and far more common: an inflammatory tweet may just anger people without causing a riot. 'Provocative' is much wider — it covers anything meant to provoke any reaction, not only anger. A provocative dress, a provocative question, a provocative ad — none of these are incendiary. 'Seditious' is narrower and more legal: it specifically means language that pushes people to rebel against the government. A senator's racist speech can be incendiary or inflammatory; only a call to overthrow the state is truly seditious.

incendiary ↗inflammatory ↗provocativeseditious

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • incendiary device
  • incendiary remarks

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Borrowed in the 15th century from Latin 'incendiarius', meaning 'causing a fire', from 'incendere' ('to set on fire'). The literal sense (fire-starting weapons and arsonists) came into English first. By the 17th century, writers were already using the word in a figurative way for people and speeches that 'set fire' to public anger — the same image we still use today when we talk about an incendiary tweet or speech.