burning
/ˈbəːnɪŋ
/adjective
1On fire: a burning building...
- He was in a burning building, the fire was below him and it was a long way down to get out.
- He was illuminated by the fire of the burning building, and he could feel all of their eyes on him.
- She looked over toward the living room and saw the soft flickering light from a burning fire.
Synonyms
blazing, flaming, aflame, fiery, flaring, ignited, glowing, red-hot, flickering, smouldering;
scorching, raging, roaring, live
1.1Very hot or bright: the burning midday sun...
- Many feared that the soles of their standard issue boots would tend to melt on the burning desert sands.
- Theo and I climbed and scrambled until midday under a burning sun.
- It was malicious, horrible, with two small red eyes as bright as points of burning coal.
Synonyms
extremely hot, red-hot, unbearably hot, baking (hot), blazing (hot), flaming, fiery, blistering, scorching, searing, sweltering, torrid, tropical, like an oven, like a furnace, like a blowtorch;
parching, withering;
North American broiling
informal baking, boiling (hot), roasting, sizzling
1.2Very keenly or deeply felt; intense: he had a burning ambition to climb to the upper reaches of management...
- He said he hopes to make a comfortable living from acting - that's his burning ambition.
- It was always her burning ambition to see her mother's name cleared.
- Malquin shook on his knees, the new wound only adding to the burning fires of pain inside of him.
Synonyms
intense, passionate, deep-seated, profound, wholehearted, strong, powerful, forceful, vigorous, ardent, urgent, fervent, fierce, earnest, eager, keen, enthusiastic, zealous, fanatical, frantic, consuming, extreme, acute, raging, blazing, uncontrollable
rare fervid, perfervid, passional
1.3Of urgent interest and importance; exciting or calling for debate: pension reform is still a burning issue the burning question of independence...
- A pump operator from the Water Board said the meeting was very important and a burning issue.
- The Government's arson control forum is dishing up £133,000 to tackle the burning issue.
- The golf lived up to all you would expect and the burning question was just who would lift the Captain's prize?
Synonyms
important, crucial, significant, prevalent, pertinent, relevant, topical, current, contemporary, of interest, active, live, controversial, urgent, pressing, compelling, critical, vital, lively, essential, acute, pivotal, climacteric
Derivatives
burningly
- The two seem to merge, briefly and burningly, in the poem ‘Max,’ in which the speaker mourns all that she has lost, both personal and public.
- There are few things I definitely, absolutely, burningly desire to own.
- Moreover, Thomas Carlyle and Satie's mother were both Scottish, not English, and the burningly radical Carlyle was not exactly ‘a conservative thinker’.