wildfire

noun

wild·​fire ˈwī(-ə)ld-ˌfī(-ə)r 

1

: a sweeping and destructive conflagration especially in a wilderness or a rural area

2

: greek fire

3

: a phosphorescent glow (such as ignis fatuus or fox fire)

4

: a destructive leaf-spot disease of tobacco caused by several strains of a bacterium (Pseudomonas syringae)

Phrases

like wildfire

: very rapidly

the news spread like wildfire

Examples of wildfire in a Sentence

The recent wildfires were made worse by the strong winds.

Recent Examples on the Web

However, there's a significant difference between containing and controlling a wildfire. —Ca Wildfire Bot, Sacbee.com, 23 Oct. 2025

Some environmental groups and opponents argue that the bill advances the logging industry’s priorities, limits public engagement and does little to reduce the risk of wildfires. —Khaleda Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025

Cyrus has been open about how seriously the 2018 wildfire affected her. —Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 22 Oct. 2025

Many of the lizards tested had likely never experienced wildfire; their capture site hadn’t burned in more than 50 years. —Clarissa Brincat, Scientific American, 22 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing wildfire

• spread like wildfire

Rhymes for wildfire

• briar
• brier
• buyer
• choir
• crier
• cryer
• drier
• dryer
• eyer
• flier
• flyer
• friar

Kids Definition

wildfire

noun

wild·​fire ˈwī(ə)l(d)-ˌfī(ə)r 

: an uncontrollable fire that destroys a wide area