Conflagrate

//ˈkɑn.flə.ɡreɪt// verb

verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To catch fire. intransitive
  2. 2
    start to burn or burst into flames wordnet
  3. 3
    To set fire to something. transitive
  4. 4
    cause to start burning wordnet

Etymology

First attested in 1657; borrowed from Latin cōnflāgrātus, perfect passive participial of cōnflāgrō (“to be consumed by fire; (rare) to set aflame”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.