firestorm

noun

fire·​storm ˈfī(-ə)r-ˌstȯrm 

1

: a very intense and destructive fire usually accompanied by high winds

The Rooses' house and gardens were obliterated in the 1991 Oakland firestorm.

—Craig Summers Black

especially : one that is started by attack with nuclear or incendiary weapons and that creates a powerful updraft which causes very strong inrushing winds to develop in the surrounding area

His goal was to create firestorms like the ones that had consumed Hamburg and Dresden, conflagrations so vast and intense that nothing could survive them …

—David M. Kennedy

2

a

: a sudden or violent outburst

a firestorm of public protest

b

: a raging controversy

a political firestorm

Synonyms of firestorm

• controversy
• debate
• dispute
• disputation
• disagreement

Examples of firestorm in a Sentence

The bombing left the city engulfed in a firestorm.

His proposal set off a political firestorm.

a firestorm of public protest

Recent Examples on the Web

However, the ongoing release of documents by the US government as well as the posthumous memoir of his accuser Virginia Giuffre ignited a firestorm of fresh scrutiny. —Kara Fox, CNN Money, 23 Dec. 2025

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the last 24 hours is that Weiss appears not to have totally grasped the firestorm her decision would provoke. —Max Tani, semafor.com, 23 Dec. 2025

The show has been at the center of a firestorm before, one that was dramatized in Michael Mann’s 1999 thriller The Insider. —Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 22 Dec. 2025

The shocking assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk on a Utah university campus in September sparked a firestorm of extreme rhetoric and recriminations. —Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 21 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1945, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for firestorm

• chloroform
• coliform
• cribriform
• cruciform
• filiform
• fusiform
• isoform
• microform
• multiform
• multiforme
• outperform
• piriform