Firebrand

//ˈfaɪɚ.bɹænd// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An argumentative troublemaker or revolutionary; one who agitates against the status quo. figuratively

    "The member of the college's Communist League was a firebrand who would launch a sit-in or protest march at a moment's notice."

  2. 2
    someone who deliberately foments trouble wordnet
  3. 3
    A torch or other burning stick with a flame at one end.

    "The crowd cheered as a firebrand was tossed onto the huge pile of wood to start the traditional homecoming bonfire."

  4. 4
    a piece of wood that has been burned or is burning wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
brandinstigatoragent provocateuragitatoragitpropbeast

Example

More examples

"Go and read, please, what this firebrand is writing to me!"

Etymology

From Middle English fyr-brand, furbrond, equivalent to fire + brand. Cognate with German Feuerbrand (“firebrand”).

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Brand Voice Consistency: Keep Tone Unified Across Pages

Practical framework to keep product, marketing, and support copy aligned.

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