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

• contestation
• controversy
• debate
• difference
• difficulty
• disagreement
• disputation
• dispute
• dissension
• dissention
• dissensus
• nonconcurrence

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

Andrés was soon at the center of a political firestorm again. —Sunny Nagpaul, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2024

Expand All The Marion City Council will meet Monday for the first time since police raided the local newspaper, kicking off an international firestorm of condemnation. —Jonathan Shorman, Kansas City Star, 3 Apr. 2024

Climate change’s impact on water supplies, forest firestorms and air quality have been front and center for many of us. —Lorraine Berry, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2024

Within weeks, the leaders of both Harvard and Penn had quit amid firestorms of controversy. —Matt Egan, CNN, 12 Mar. 2024

And that became a huge firestorm of criticism for Google over the last couple of weeks. —Michael Calore Lauren Goode, WIRED, 7 Mar. 2024

Following the criticism, the host took an unplanned hiatus from the reality series and never returned amid the firestorm that ultimately led to his exit. —Carly Thomas, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Mar. 2024

Budweiser attempted to support trans customers for a hot second, then abandoned trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney in the firestorm of consumer backlash. —Lila MacLellan, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2024

The school has also been accused of antisemitism and Islamophobia. Claudine Gay, the first Black president in Harvard history, stepped down in January amid a firestorm of controversy over her academic writings and disastrous performance at a congressional hearing on antisemitism. —Matt Egan, CNN, 28 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1945, in the meaning defined at sense 1