different between inflame vs tease

English

Etymology

From Middle English inflammen, enflamen, enflaumen, from Old French enflammer (“to inflame”), from Latin inflamm? (“to kindle, set on fire”, verb), from in (“in, on”) + flamma (“flame”), equivalent to in- +? flame.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?fle?m/
• Rhymes: -e?m

Verb

inflame (third-person singular simple present inflames, present participle inflaming, simple past and past participle inflamed)

1. (transitive) To set on fire; to kindle; to cause to burn, flame, or glow.
2. (transitive, figuratively) To kindle or intensify (a feeling, as passion or appetite); to excite to an excessive or unnatural action or heat.

   to inflame desire

   • 1690, John Dryden, Creator Spirit! by whose aid

     But, O inflame and fire our hearts.

   • 2017 August 25, "Arrest threat as Yingluck Shinawatra misses verdict", in aljazeera.com, Al Jazeera:

     The long-awaited verdict could inflame tension in the Southeast Asian country and have far-reaching implications in the politically divided kingdom.

3. (transitive) To provoke (a person) to anger or rage; to exasperate; to irritate; to incense; to enrage.
4. (transitive) To put in a state of inflammation; to produce morbid heat, congestion, or swelling, of.

   to inflame the eyes by overwork

5. To exaggerate; to enlarge upon.

   • A friend exaggerates a man's virtues, an enemy inflames his crimes.

   • 1773, Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer

     As you say, we passengers are to be taxed to pay all these fineries. I have often seen a good sideboard, or a marble chimney-piece, though not actually put in the bill, inflame a reckoning confoundedly.

6. (intransitive) To grow morbidly hot, congested, or painful; to become angry or incensed.

Synonyms

• provoke
• fire
• kindle
• irritate
• exasperate
• incense
• enrage
• anger
• excite
• arouse

Related terms

• inflammable
• inflammatory
• inflammation

Translations

Further reading

• inflame in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• inflame in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• feminal

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ami

Verb

inflame

1. First-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of inflamar
2. Third-person singular (ele, ela, also used with tu and você^?) present subjunctive of inflamar
3. Third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of inflamar
4. Third-person singular (você) negative imperative of inflamar

Spanish

Verb

inflame

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of inflamar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of inflamar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of inflamar.

English

Alternative forms

• teaze (dated)

Etymology

From Middle English tesen, from Old English t?san (“to tease”), from Proto-West Germanic *taisijan (“to separate, tug, shred”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: t?z, IPA^(key): /ti?z/
• Homophones: teas, tees
• Rhymes: -i?z

Verb

tease (third-person singular simple present teases, present participle teasing, simple past and past participle teased)

1. To separate the fibres of a fibrous material.
2. To comb (originally with teasels) so that the fibres all lie in one direction.
3. To back-comb.
4. (transitive) To poke fun at, either cruelly or affectionately.
   • 2008, Lich King, "Attack of the Wrath of the War of the Death of the Strike of the Sword of the Blood of the Beast ", Toxic Zombie Onslaught

5. (transitive) To provoke or disturb; to annoy.
   • 1684, Samuel Butler, Hudibras

     Not by the force of carnal reason, / But indefatigable teasing.

   • "My tastes," he said, still smiling, "incline me to the garishly sunlit side of this planet." And, to tease her and arouse her to combat: "I prefer a farandole to a nocturne; I'd rather have a painting than an etching; Mr. Whistler bores me with his monochromatic mud; I don't like dull colours, dull sounds, dull intellects; […]."

6. (transitive) To manipulate or influence the behavior of, especially by repeated acts of irritation.
7. (transitive) To entice, tempt.
8. (transitive, informal) To show as forthcoming, in the manner of a teaser.

Usage notes

• Tease, in the sense of "make fun of," can refer to cruel statements but also affectionate or harmless ones, which may be taken in good humour by the recipient. By contrast, taunt only refers to cruel statements, as does mock unless qualified (e.g. gently mock).

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

tease (plural teases)

1. One who teases.
2. A single act of teasing.
3. One who deliberately arouses others (usually men) sexually with no intention of satisfying that arousal.

   Synonyms: cock tease, cocktease, cockteaser, prickteaser

Translations

Anagrams

• Seeta, setae, setæ