Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A large destructive fire.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A burning; a fire; especially, the burning of any large mass of combustibles: as, the conflagration of a city or of a forest; the final conflagration of the world.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A fire extending to many objects, or over a large space; a general burning.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A large fire extending to many objects, or over a large space; a general burning.
  • noun figuratively A large-scale conflict.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a very intense and uncontrolled fire

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin cōnflagrātiō, cōnflagrātiōn-, from cōnflagrātus, past participle of cōnflagrāre, to burn up; see conflagrant.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin cōnflagrātiō ("burning, conflagration").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word conflagration.

Examples

  • So how did that affect you and what your strategy was in figuring out what a negotiation with him should be because if you believe in the apocalypse, then you believe you might die soon, and any conflagration is just further sign that yeah, the end is near, and that's a good thing.

    'Stalling For Time' With An FBI Hostage Negotiator 2010

  • This movement of fire, the aliveness of the flames, the symphony of the conflagration, is everything it means to be a human being.

    Writing Workshop: What are YOU Working on? | Write to Done 2008

  • Just as the mythological Norse Age ended in conflagration, so some of our scientists predict that our present universe will end billions of years from now, if we happen to be living in a contracting universe.

    Mesoamerican Religion and Multiverses: Part One 2008

  • Just as the mythological Norse Age ended in conflagration, so some of our scientists predict that our present universe will end billions of years from now, if we happen to be living in a contracting universe.

    Mesoamerican Religion and Multiverses: Part One 2008

  • Just as the mythological Norse Age ended in conflagration, so some of our scientists predict that our present universe will end billions of years from now, if we happen to be living in a contracting universe.

    Mesoamerican Religion and Multiverses: Part One 2008

  • According to me – They want the middle east to explode in conflagration – people slaughtered so they can reap billions on scant oil supplies and sub-par armaments produced by war profiteering companies.

    Think Progress » Remembering Iraq. 2006

  • "A faint reddish light betrays itself through some of the windows of the minster; by degrees it increases in vividness; until at length the flame from which it proceeds bursts fiercely forth, illuminating the adjacent towers, and mingled volumes of smoke, and masses of brilliant sparks, now rapidly ascend to the skies; a great portion of the roof of the building falls in; and the dreadful conflagration is at its height when the scene closes" (Altick 167).

    Making Visible: The Diorama, the Double and the (Gothic) Subject 2005

  • The 1933 Reichstag conflagration, the Gliwice Radio Tower invasion, the Pearl Harbor attack, and, yes, even the Tonkin Gulf Incident were ALL orchestrated events that served to galvanize an unsuspecting populace into supporting unpopular wars.

    Suicide by F16 fighter jet? 2009

  • Lawrence Pietroni has created two uniquely alluring charactersRuby and Isaand spins a story that feels mythical or folkloric, that is driven by a mystery, throbs with tension, and ends in conflagration.

    Ruby's Spoon: Summary and book reviews of Ruby's Spoon by Anna Lawrence Pietroni. 2010

  • But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order.

    Tacitus on Mythicism James F. McGrath 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • this word has always reminded me of trumpets and royal celebrations.

    November 23, 2008

  • Hurray!!!

    December 2, 2008