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You've read about funeral pyres, and you may even have survived a pyromaniac ("insane fire-starting") stage in your youth, so you might have guessed that pyr means "fire" in Greek. Pyrotechnic refers literally to fireworks, but always seems to be used for something else—something just as exciting, explosive, dazzling, sparkling, or brilliant. The performances of sports stars and dancers are often described as pyrotechnic, and a critic may describe the pyrotechnics of a rock guitarist's licks or a film's camerawork. A pyrotechnic performance is always impressive, but the word occasionally suggests something more like "flashy" or "flamboyant".
Examples of pyrotechnic in a Sentence
Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 16 Oct. 2025
Violent and filled with pyrotechnic language, this was one of my favorites in high school.
—Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 6 Oct. 2025
A.d. Amorosi, Variety, 17 Oct. 2025
One fan theorized Scott may have gotten too close to his pyrotechnics and burned his hand after video showed the rapper shaking his hand before walking off stage.
—Mackenzie Cummings-Grady, Billboard, 13 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pyrotechnic
Cite this Entry
“Pyrotechnic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pyrotechnic. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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