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incendiary

[in-sen-dee-er-ee]

Origin

adjective

used or adapted for setting property on fire: incendiary bombs.

of or pertaining to the criminal setting on fire of property.

tending to arouse strife, sedition, etc.; inflammatory: incendiary speeches.

tending to inflame the senses: an incendiary extravaganza of music and dance.

noun

a person who deliberately sets fire to buildings or other property, as an arsonist.

Military. a shell, bomb, or grenade containing napalm, thermite, or some other substance that burns with an intense heat.

a person who stirs up strife, sedition, etc.; an agitator.

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Incendiary has a plethora of syllables.

So is sesquipedalianism. Does it mean:

a white, crystalline, water-insoluble, powerful high explosive, C3H6N6O6, used chiefly in bombs and shells.

given to using long words.

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Origin:
1600–10; < Latin incendiārius, equivalent to incendi(um) a fire (incend(ere) to kindle (in- in-² + -cendere, transitive v. from base of candēre to shine, be hot; see candent, candid, candor) + -ium -ium) + -ārius -ary

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To incendiary

Collins

World English Dictionary

incendiary (ɪnˈsɛndɪərɪ)

—*adj*
1.	of or relating to the illegal burning of property, goods, etc
2.	tending to create strife, violence, etc; inflammatory
3.	(of a substance) capable of catching fire, causing fires, or burning readily

—n , -aries
4.	a person who illegally sets fire to property, goods, etc; arsonist
5.	(esp formerly) a person who stirs up civil strife, violence, etc, for political reasons; agitator
6.	Also called: incendiary bomb a bomb that is designed to start fires
7.	an incendiary substance, such as phosphorus

[C17: from Latin incendiārius setting alight, from incendium fire, from incendere to kindle]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

incendiary

"person who sets malicious fires" (n.), c.1600; "concerning malicious fires" (adj.), 1610s, from L. incendiarius (n.), from incendium "conflagration," from incendere "set on fire," from in- "in" + *candere "to set alight, cause to glow," related to candere "to shine" (see

EXPAND

candle). Figurative sense of "enflaming passions" (adj.) is from 1610s. Military use, of bombs, shells, etc., attested from 1871. The obsolete verb incend is attested from c.1500.

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Greek fire Molotov cocktail napalm thermate

Matching Quote

"You watched and you saw what happened and in the accumulation of episodes you saw the pattern: Daddy ruled the roost, called the shots, made the money, made the decisions, so you signed up on his side, and fifteen years later when the women's movement came along with its incendiary manifestos telling you to avoid marriage and motherhood, it was as if somebody put a match to a pile of dry kindling."

-Anne Taylor Fleming

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incendiary

in·cen·di·ar·y