noun, slang ·3 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Pyrrhocoris apterus, a common red and black insect, that is the type species of the family Pyrrhocoridae.
2. 2
   a true bug: brightly colored bug that can exude a stain wordnet
3. 3
   A pyromaniac or arsonist. slang

   "But the firebug allegedly ran back inside yelling before he finally took off."

4. 4
   a criminal who illegally sets fire to property wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

arsonistarsonistincendiarytorch

Example

More examples

"Take those matches away from that kid; he's a firebug!"

Etymology

From fire + bug.

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