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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > CONFLAGRATION

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pronounce CONFLAGRATION:

KON fluh GRAY shun
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connect this word to others:

As we check out the word conflagration, meaning "a huge fire, or a horrible disaster," see if you can recall a word that, in a literal sense, is the antonym of conflagration, but in a figurative sense, is its synonym:

A sudden flooding from an icy river, or a sudden horrible disaster, is a de___le.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) 

definition:

"Conflagration" has Latin bits that literally mean "a complete burning."

We've used it for centuries to literally mean "a huge, destructive fire," and that's what it most often means today. 

More recently, we've used it to figuratively mean "a disaster so terrible that it reminds you of a huge fire."

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Noun, usually the countable kind: "In 1911, a conflagration at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory killed 146 people."

Rarely, the uncountable kind: "The air was dense and dirty with conflagration."

Other forms: 

The plural noun is "conflagrations."

There's a verb, but it's ra re: "conflagrate." It can be both transitive ("They conflagrated the building") and intransitive ("The building conflagrated"). And it can be figurative, as in "The war conflagrated" or "They conflagrated into song." 

And there's an adjective, "conflagrant," but it's pretty rare, too.

how to use it:

When you want a common, serious, dramatic, formal word for a huge, out-of-control fire, call it a conflagration.

Or, to get figurative, you could refer to a terrible war, a political polarization, or a bitter, ongoing conflict or argument as a conflagration. You could call the conflict itself a conflagration, or say that there's been a conflagration of whatever got burned up, so to speak. Here's an example from Scientific American: "Artificial intelligence is now a burning, 'hair on fire' conflagration of both hopes and fears about the revolutionary technological transformation." (Yeah, it's redundant to call something a "burning, 'hair on fire' conflagration," or even just a "burning conflagration," but it's still fun.)

examples:

"We have watched unprecedented conflagrations sweep across Canada."
  — Asher Elbein, Scientific American, 3 November 2023

"There is to be a burning. A great conflagration. Of books. They are to be stacked like logs, or thrown on a pyre, in the center of Paris."   
  — Adam Gidwitz, The Inquisitor's Tale, 2016

has this page helped you understand "conflagration"?

   

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.


study it:

Explain the meaning of "conflagration" without saying "enormous fire" or "inferno."

try it out:

A character in a novel by Margaret Rebecca Piper grouched:

"If I had my way every book in existence would be placed on a huge funeral pyre and conflagrated instantly."

Why??? He hates reading, I guess.

Could you make a similar grouchy statement? If you had your way, what object (or trend, or word) in our society would be collected, placed on a pyre, and conflagrated instantly?




before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "Name the Game!"

I'll share some tidbits about a particular board game with a one-word name, and you try to name it. 

You can scroll all the way down to see the game's real name. Maybe you'll come up with the correct name, or one that’s just as apt!

Try this one today:

The game's name is 1 syllable.

It starts with R.

"Players will adventure through a branching story... There is something out there. Something worth seeking for, but it will be up to you to determine what precisely that is. Maybe it's purpose. Maybe it's knowledge. Or maybe it's just nothing but trouble. But it's not up to me. So, go on. Get out there and seek.”

review this word:

1. A near opposite of a CONFLAGRATION, in the figurative sense, could be

A. a HOLE.
B. a RELEASE.
C. a TRIUMPH.

2. Thomas Carlyle wrote that popularity conflagrates people "_____."

A. into pieces
B. into ashes
C. into the sea




Answers to the review questions:
1. C
2. B

From the game: Rove.


a final word:


I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.


From my blog:
On vocabulary...
      36 ways to study words.
      Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
      How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
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      How to improve any sentence.
      How to motivate our kids to write.
      How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
      How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

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A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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