inflammatory

adjective

in·​flam·​ma·​to·​ry in-ˈfla-mə-ˌtȯr-ē 

1

: tending to excite anger, disorder, or tumult : seditious

2

: tending to inflame or excite the senses

3

: accompanied by or tending to cause inflammation

inflammatorily

in-ˌfla-mə-ˈtȯr-ə-lē 

adverb

Synonyms

• incendiary
• seditious

Examples of inflammatory in a Sentence

She had an acute inflammatory reaction to the drug.

He incited the mob with an inflammatory speech.

Recent Examples on the Web

As someone with difficulty detoxing due to the MTHFR genetic mutation, my body went into a systemic inflammatory response that my doctor confirmed with bloodwork. —Jessica Ourisman, Forbes, 21 Mar. 2025

How to Reduce Inflammation and Support Insulin Sensitivity Inflammation is a very complicated process affecting many different inflammatory cells and pathways. —Danielle Weiss, Verywell Health, 19 Mar. 2025

The company is advancing product candidates targeting both inflammatory and infectious diseases. —Quartz Intelligence Newsroom, Quartz, 18 Mar. 2025

Cramer suggested that the market was able to advance on Monday — the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.85%, the S&P 500 added 0.64% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.31% — because Trump didn’t make any inflammatory posts. —Julie Coleman, CNBC, 17 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1711, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing inflammatory

• anti-inflammatory
• inflammatory bowel disease
• multisystem inflammatory syndrome
• multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children
• pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome
• pelvic inflammatory disease
• pro-inflammatory

Rhymes for inflammatory

• accusatory
• admonitory
• ambulatory
• amendatory
• celebratory
• circulatory
• combinatory
• commendatory
• compensatory
• condemnatory
• confirmatory
• confiscatory

Kids Definition

inflammatory

adjective

in·​flam·​ma·​to·​ry in-ˈflam-ə-ˌtōr-ē 

-ˌtȯr-

1

: stirring up anger, disorder, or rebellion

inflammatory speeches

2

: causing or accompanied by inflammation

inflammatory diseases

Medical Definition

inflammatory

adjective

in·​flam·​ma·​to·​ry in-ˈflam-ə-ˌtōr-ē, -ˌtȯr- 

: accompanied by or tending to cause inflammation

inflammatory diseases

Legal Definition

inflammatory

noun

in·​flam·​ma·​to·​ry

in-ˈfla-mə-ˌtōr-ē

: tending to cause anger, animosity, or indignation

the use of an alias by a defendant is…almost always inflammatory

—F. D. Doucette

Note: Evidence, and especially photographic evidence, may be deemed inadmissible if its inflammatory nature seriously outweighs its probative value or relevance. The mere fact that evidence is graphic or gruesome, however, is not enough to render it inadmissible.