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

New surveillance video from inside a Brooklyn liquor store shows another angle of the rough mistaken identity arrest that ignited a firestorm of criticism, offering a different angle as one of the detectives appears to stomp the prone suspect. —Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 19 Apr. 2026

The city’s spending on the program has generated a firestorm of criticism directed at the mayor on social media after it was first reported by Mass Daily News, an independent outlet, and then shared widely online. —Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 17 Apr. 2026

What might once have passed as a routine assertion of military law triggered a political firestorm. —Nik Popli, Time, 15 Apr. 2026

My comments ignited a firestorm. —Mick Davis, Sun Sentinel, 14 Apr. 2026

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