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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
Ronda Racha Penrice, HollywoodReporter, 11 July 2025
Macy’s worked closely with its pyrotechnic partners over the last year to source fireworks for the retailer’s annual Fourth of July fireworks display in New York City months ahead of the show, according to a person familiar with this year’s planning.
—Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN Money, 3 July 2025
Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 16 July 2025
Investigators released the names on Saturday of the seven people who were killed in a massive pyrotechnics facility explosion in Northern California that took place days before the Fourth of July.
—Vanessa Navarrete, ABC News, 12 July 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 26 Jul. 2025.
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