wildfire means A rapidly spreading fire, especially one occurring in a wildland area. It carries an Arena rating of 1497, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, wildfire ranks #35 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #539 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #555 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #2,673 of 17,131 for Scariest Words.
wildfire is pronounced /ˈwaɪldˌfaɪər/.
Why “wildfire” is a great word
A rapidly spreading and uncontrolled fire, especially one occurring in a wildland area. From Old English wilde fȳr, equivalent to 'wild' (uncontrolled) + 'fire'. Unlike a 'brushfire,' which suggests a contained fury in scrubland, or a 'configration,' which implies an urban apocalypse of brick and timber, wildfire is defined by its voracious, organic hunger for the living world. It is the racing orange line devouring a mountain ridge, the crackling advance through a dry prairie, and the eerie glow that turns night into a hellish twilight—a furious, indifferent reminder that the border between the human and the wild is maintained only by continuous, often forgotten, effort.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English wilde fyr, wilde fire, wylde fyre, from Old English wilde fȳr. By surface analysis, wild + fire.
noun
- A rapidly spreading fire, especially one occurring in a wildland area.
- Greek fire.
- A spreading disease of the skin, particularly erysipelas.
- Something that acts or spreads quickly and uncontrollably.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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