flammable
adjective
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Why Inflammable Is Not the Opposite of Flammable
Combustible and incombustible are opposites but flammable and inflammable are synonyms. Why? The in- of incombustible is a common prefix meaning "not," but the in- of inflammable is a different prefix. Inflammable comes from Latin inflammare ("to inflame"), itself from in- (here meaning "in" or "into") plus flammare ("to flame"). Flammable also comes from flammare. In the early 20th century, firefighters worried that people might think inflammable meant "not able to catch fire," so they adopted flammable and nonflammable as official safety labels and encouraged their use to prevent confusion. In general use, flammable is now the preferred term for describing things that can catch fire, but inflammable is still occasionally used with that meaning as well.
Examples of flammable in a Sentence
Calmatters, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2025
Several years ago, an engineer who worked for the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety wanted to replace flammable pine straw mulch with gravel.
—Ron Lieber, New York Times, 19 Mar. 2025
An attacker threw a flammable substance on the victim just before 4 a.m. at W. 41th St. and Seventh Ave., then lit him on fire, cops said.
—John Annese, New York Daily News, 16 Mar. 2025
Clean flammable vegetation and debris from at least 30 feet around the house and any outbuildings.
—Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 14 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flammable
Cite this Entry
“Flammable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flammable. Accessed 27 Mar. 2025.
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flammable
adjective
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