adjective
-
liable to catch fire; flammable
-
readily aroused to anger or passion
noun
Commonly Confused
Inflammable and flammable both mean “combustible.” Inflammable is the older by about 200 years. Flammable now has certain technical uses, particularly as a warning on vehicles carrying combustible materials, because of a belief that some might interpret the intensive prefix in- of inflammable as a negative prefix and thus think the word means “noncombustible.” Inflammable is the word more usually used in nontechnical and figurative contexts: The speaker ignited the inflammable emotions of the crowd.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inflammable
1595–1605; < Medieval Latin inflammābilis, equivalent to Latin inflammā ( re ) to inflame + -bilis -ble
Explanation
Something that is inflammable can be set on fire easily. You dared not light a match after you accidentally spilled gasoline on yourself because you knew you were inflammable. Inflammable can be a tricky word, since the in- prefix often means "not." But in this case, the in- isn't really a prefix, because the word is built from the verb inflame which means "to set on fire." Some inflammable things might literally go up in flames, but we also use it metaphorically. Someone with a quick temper could be described as "inflammable," and if you fall in love easily, then you have an inflammable heart.
Vocabulary lists containing inflammable
Commonly Confused Words, List 5
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fla, flam (flame)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In 1878, The Washington Post published a brief article under the headline, “The Army Medical Museum a Magazine of Inflammable Material.”
From Washington Post • Nov. 4, 2017
Inflammable matter must be kept far from fire; whereas matter that is incombustible may, when a necessary cause occurs, safely pass through the midst of the flame.
From The Parables of Our Lord by Arnot, William
Inflammable air, however, will not mix with acid or alkaline air.
From Heads of Lectures on a Course of Experimental Philosophy: Particularly Including Chemistry by Priestley, Joseph
Inflammable oil, poured on fire, does not make a fiercer blaze than did this question of the Spanish Succession at that time.
From A Short History of Germany by Parmele, Mary Platt
Carnes hurried off and returned with a gang of laborers, who took from the bomber a dozen heavy packing cases of various sizes, several of them labelled either "Fragile" or "Inflammable" in large type.
From Astounding Stories of Super-Science February 1930 by Bates, Harry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
