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V2 Vocabulary Building Dictionary


inflammatory

adjective

Definition: 1. likely to cause a strong emotional response, especially anger; 2. characterized by inflammation

Synonyms: explosive, fiery, incendiary, provocative, exciting, destructive, angering, troublesome, rebellious

Antonyms: calming, soothing, dull

Tips: To remember the word inflammatory, think of the related word flame. The word inflammatory describes things that generate strong, heated emotions and incite action. Words or actions intended to incite anger or a heated response are inflammatory. Note: often the prefix in- is negative and means "not" (e.g. invalid = not valid). However, there are also instances like here, where in- is actually part of the original root word and denotes a stronger meaning.

Usage Examples:

His speech was so inflammatory it started a riot. (angering, incendiary)

According to the medical study, the drug will likely cause an inflammatory condition. (relating to inflammation, troublesome)

Her inflammatory remarks angered nearly everyone in the office. (angering, provocative)

The article was so inflammatory, the editor received a record number of letters from the public. (fiery, provocative)


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