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
Erika I. Ritchie, Orange County Register, 27 Feb. 2025
Remove any flammable material — including mulch, flammable plants, leaves and needles, firewood piles, patio furniture — away from wall exteriors.
—Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2025
Apparently, some of the flammable material got under the slide bar of the compactor, spreading the fire further into the truck.
—Ars Technica, 20 Feb. 2025
The fires were a bonfire of bad ideas that had piled up over decades, from suburban sprawl into wildfire zones to the flammable plastics that now fill many people’s homes.
—Jeff Goodell, Rolling Stone, 13 Feb. 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 12 Mar. 2025.
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flammable
adjective
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