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as in firebrand
a person who stirs up public feelings especially of discontent
blamed the protests on outside incendiaries who were intent on overthrowing the government
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in provocative
tending to excite political disorder or insurrection
recklessly made incendiary remarks during a period of heightened racial tensions
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of incendiary
Brad Lendon, CNN, 7 Sep. 2024
But the only traditional incendiaries in the story are the radical Protestant preacher Anne Askew (Erin Doherty), a friend of Katherine’s, and Henry’s minion, Bishop Stephen Gardiner, played by an inquisitorial Simon Russell Beale.
—Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 14 June 2024
Newsweek Contributors, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
Even with the return to overall growth, Tesla’s third quarter was marked by a continuing sales slump in Europe, driven partly by consumer backlash against Musk, his incendiary political rhetoric and activism, as well by competition from EV makers like Volkswagen and BYD.
—Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incendiary
Noun
Ukrainian officers also accused Russia of using incendiaries in attacks on the city of Bakhmut last year.
—Brad Lendon, CNN, 7 Sep. 2024
But the only traditional incendiaries in the story are the radical Protestant preacher Anne Askew (Erin Doherty), a friend of Katherine’s, and Henry’s minion, Bishop Stephen Gardiner, played by an inquisitorial Simon Russell Beale.
—Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 14 June 2024
Adjective
Calling President Trump a dictator isn’t a smear, but an accurate reflection of his incendiary actions.
—Newsweek Contributors, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
Even with the return to overall growth, Tesla’s third quarter was marked by a continuing sales slump in Europe, driven partly by consumer backlash against Musk, his incendiary political rhetoric and activism, as well by competition from EV makers like Volkswagen and BYD.
—Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incendiary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incendiary
Noun
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Everybody was going to get their torches.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Nov. 2025
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Rose was born in 1988, eight years after Keith Godchaux’s death in a car accident, but the singer and songwriter is carrying the Dead torch proudly, performing with Grahame Lesh (son of late Dead bassist Phil Lesh) this summer as part of the Dead 60 celebration.—
Shirley Halperin,
Rolling Stone,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The 63-year-old former assemblyman isn’t campaigning as a culture warrior or firebrand.—
Nik Popli,
Time,
30 Oct. 2025
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Whereas Melvin was a milquetoast mainstay with two decades of experience as a major-league manager, Vitello arrives as a 47-year-old firebrand who neither played nor coached at any level of professional baseball.—
Evan Webeck,
Mercury News,
23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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One of the official accounts, @GovPressOffice, has seen nearly 1 billion impressions on X since those first provocative posts in June, per Newsom's campaign.—
Brittany Shepherd,
ABC News,
2 Nov. 2025
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But Bugonia’s provocative premise doesn’t yield a sci-fi thriller.—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The apparent killing – captured on video shared online by the rebels themselves – took place at a university medical school in El Fasher in Sudan’s western Darfur region after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took over the city on Sunday.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
30 Oct. 2025
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As regular troops in French service, the British treated them as prisoners of war instead of Jacobite rebels, and eventually repatriated them to France.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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In addition to her injury, Masters also suffers from hypothyroidism, which occurs when the thyroid gland doesn't make and release enough thyroid hormone in the bloodstream, as well as Lyme disease, an inflammatory illness usually caused by an infected tick bite.—
Mary Kekatos,
ABC News,
6 Nov. 2025
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Ye’s inflammatory remarks resulted in corporations such as Universal Music Group, Balenciaga, Gap and Adidas cutting ties with him.—
Michael Saponara,
Billboard,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
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That revelation prodded insurgents in British possessions from Ireland to Sierra Leone to take to the streets to assert their own ambitions for economic and political autonomy over the decades to come.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
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Ilana presents herself as a stout-hearted reformer who’s being targeted by fascistic insurgents but is secretly evil enough to engineer an apocalypse.—
Matt Zoller Seitz,
Vulture,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
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After becoming an Internet sensation (and an art-world provocateur), the toilet moved to England in 2019, where a trio of thieves snatched it from the birthplace of Winston Churchill in a crime straight out of the board game Clue.—
Nicole Hoey,
Robb Report,
4 Nov. 2025
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Curtis and Kirk were indeed to be found on opposite ends of virtually every hot-button cultural issue on which the latter made his name as a debater and provocateur.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
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In fact, the term itself was an epithet throughout the founding era, a way to describe ignorant and easily deceived popular majorities, perpetually vulnerable to demagogues.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Oct. 2025
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That’s in no way a movement that could sweep the midterms and then be harnessed by a charismatic demagogue to remake an entire political party.—
Emily Zemler,
Rolling Stone,
21 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Incendiary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incendiary. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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