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Glite Dictionary
incombustible

incombustible

8.2
Not able to catch fire or burn
  • adjective
  • /ˌɪn.kəmˈbʌs.tə.bəl/
translation icon : incombustible
  • Firefighters prefer using incombustible barriers to protect important areas during a blaze.

Examples

  • The scientists conducted experiments to prove that the substance was truly incombustible under high temperatures.

  • Now a sporting director with the big-spending Russian Premier League club, the incombustible Brazilian.

    Blog text (26)

  • All claim it resembles gold: inconceivably pure gold, being simultaneously immanent and incombustible with a delicate aspect.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Yet with the growing scarcity of fuelwood in many parts of the country, the quality of biomass used for cooking purposes has declined substantially, leaving the poor in several regions to use twigs, leaves, and other almost totally incombustible material.

    Academic text (1999)

  • The incombustible material used in the construction ensures that the building remains safe from fire hazards.

Synonyms

fireproof
vsincombustible
5 4.0

Made so it does not burn in a fire

focuses on surviving fire damage rather than being unable to catch fire
flameproof
vsincombustible
  • Specialized
1 3.9

Hard to burn or set on fire

is an absolute inability to burn rather than mere resistance to ignition
noncombustible
vsincombustible
1 5.3

Does not catch fire or burn

is the same meaning but expressed with different wording
nonflammable
vsincombustible
1 4.1

Does not catch fire or burn easily

is an absolute inability to catch fire rather than being hard to ignite
unburnable
vsincombustible
4.7

Not able to burn or be set on fire

is a strict physical inability to catch fire rather than being unsuitable to burn

Antonyms

combustible
18 5.1

Easily catches fire and burns

How Flammable

flammable
41 2.8
fire-resistant
  • Specialized
3 4.1
incombustible
8.2

Surface Forms

incombustible positive

Morphology

incombustible = combustible (semi-transparent) = in + combust + ible

For learners who know 'combustible', adding negative 'in-' gives the meaning directly: 'not combustible'.

Etymology

The word incombustible breaks into in- meaning 'not' and combustible meaning 'able to burn', the same root you see in combustion ('burning'). So incombustible describes something that will not catch fire and cannot burn.