ignite
verb
Simple meaning
To set fire to, to light.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihgnytSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪɡˈnaɪt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To set fire to (something), to light (something)
Cause to start burning; subject to fire or great heat
“Great heat can ignite almost any dry matter.”
transitive
To spark off (something), to trigger
intransitive
To commence burning.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Cause to start burning; subject to fire or great heat
Used this way, ignite is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Great heat can ignite almost any dry matter.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use ignite
- “Great heat can ignite almost any dry matter.”verb
- “The ostentatious way of living of the rich ignites the hatred of the poor.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The mechanism that ignites the fuel in an internal-combustion engine.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: to set fire to (something) or to light (something)
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.