Meanings
comparative more afire · superlative most afire
- On fire (often metaphorically).
1 more example
Zuleika blushed. “Yet,” she said more gently, “be sure they would all be not a little envious of YOU! Not one of them ever touched the surface of my heart. You stirred my heart to its very depths. Yes, you made me love you madly. The pearls told you no lie. You were my idol—the one thing in the wide world to me. You were so different from any man I had ever seen except in dreams. You did not make a fool of yourself. I admired you. I respected you. I was all afire with adoration of you. And now,” she passed her hand across her eyes, “now it is all over. The idol has come sliding down its pedestal to fawn and grovel with all the other infatuates in the dust about my feet.”
1911 October 26, Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson, or, An Oxford Love Story, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: John Lane Company, published 1912, →OCLC
comparative more afire · superlative most afire
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishafire
- Englishafire
13ᵗʰc., from Middle English afire, equivalent to a- (“on”) + fire. Figurative usage from late 14ᵗʰc.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian пламнал, запален
- пламнал (plamnal)literally on fire
- запален (zapalen)literally on fire
Czech v plamenech, hořící
- v plamenechliterally on fire
- hořícíliterally on fire
- planoucíliterally on fire
- planoucímetaphorically on fire
- hořícímetaphorically on fire
Dutch in brand
- in brandliterally on fire
Finnish tulessa, liekeissä
- tulessaliterally on fire
- liekeissäliterally on fire
- tulessametaphorically on fire
French ardent, ardent
- ardentliterally on fire
- ardentmetaphorically on fire
German in Flammen, in Brand
- in Flammenliterally on fire
- in Brandliterally on fire
- Feuer und Flamme seinmetaphorically on fire
- begeistert seinmetaphorically on fire
Spanish ardiendo
- ardiendoliterally on fire
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with afire
Anagrams
Cite this entry
afire. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/afire
“afire.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/afire. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “afire,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/afire.
Source: afire on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.