incendiary
1
8.4
- noun
- /ɪnˈsɛndiˌɛri/
- NSFW
:
incendiario
- The police arrested an incendiary who was caught setting fire to a downtown building.
Examples
-
Expert incendiaries were more active than ever.
Academic text (2018) -
Were they to become incendiaries and set fire to our city, their agency would be far less pernicious to its true interests than a successful effort to withhold the Bible from our youth.
Academic text (2005) -
Then on out here to drop your incendiary.
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The orders were to shoot only the incendiaries.
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Couple of incendiaries, these old buildings go up like cellophane.
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I'm quite familiar with incendiaries, Miss Vetra.
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I've given orders to shoot incendiaries and even here, you cannot... ...cannot get the stink of smoke out of your nostrils!
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And T-BIRD, an arrogant Aryan, brush-cut iron pumper, who is prepping an incendiary.
Fiction book (1994) -
After the investigation, they identified the incendiary responsible for the recent arson attacks in the neighborhood.
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Firefighters were on high alert for any signs of an incendiary trying to cause further damage to the area.
Synonyms
34
5.8
A person who illegally sets fire to buildings or other property to damage them
3
9.3
A person who starts fires on purpose to damage buildings or other property
A person who starts fires on purpose
Compounds
Surface Forms
Morphology
incendiary = incendi + ary
Formed from the stem 'incendi-' + the suffix '-ary'; the stem is not a standalone English base, so learners cannot fully deduce 'arsonist' from familiar English components.
Etymology
Incendiary comes from the Latin incendere which means 'to set on fire'. Think of someone who literally 'sets fires' on purpose, which is why an incendiary is an arsonist.