1
as in inferno
a destructive burning the historic tavern burned to the ground in a horrible conflagration

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2
as in hostilities
a state of armed violent struggle between states, nations, or groups what began as a skirmish over disputed territory erupted into a conflagration that swept the continent

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of conflagration King commanding the stage with inventive conflagrations, fleet unison fingerwork by Collier and Philion, Rogers-Kaufman offering solos both cerebral and thrilling, and Damien winging through long features with the agility of a sparrow. Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 1 Sep. 2025 Then light the needles in several places, starting at the base, and fan the flames into a conflagration. Peter Barrett, Outside, 30 Aug. 2025 And bumps in the early light curve of a supernova could indicate the presence of a close companion – a nearby star, brown dwarf or giant planet – that has become caught up in the conflagration. Keith Cooper, Space.com, 19 Aug. 2025 Otherwise, his entreaties are just words that mean nothing and risk drawing the United States deeper into a moral conflagration that doesn't serve its interests. Zoltan Istvan, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for conflagration
Recent Examples of Synonyms for conflagration
Noun
  • The scrutiny comes after the arrest of Jonathan Rinderknecht, who is accused of setting a smaller blaze six days earlier that authorities say sparked the larger inferno.
    Barnini Chakraborty, The Washington Examiner, 11 Oct. 2025
  • His partner also appeared to help pull the man away from the inferno.
    Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 11 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Trump will need to hope for hostilities to be short-lasting, or for these voters to be forgiving.
    Javier Corrales, Time, 27 Oct. 2025
  • Analysts say his intervention stopped escalating hostilities, though tensions persist in what remains a fragile, ongoing cold conflict between the longtime regional rivals.
    Amanda Greenwood, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Then the 23-year-old's plane suddenly dove straight into the ground and caught on fire.
    Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
  • The film recreates the circumstances that surrounded Hind Rajab’s actual killing in January 2024, in which Red Crescent volunteers struggled to send an ambulance to rescue the child, who was trapped under fire in Gaza.
    Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 28 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Rogers noted that the book argues that a central cause of the war was Anglo settlers’ determination to keep slaves in bondage after Mexico largely abolished it.
    Preston Fore, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2025
  • In the five years just before war set in, these were among the dwellings that had beguiled Heinz Gaube (1940–2022), a German academic at the Oriental Seminar of the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen.
    JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 25 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Conflagration.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/conflagration. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.

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