add fuel to the fire

verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"add-fuel-to-the-fire" is a 16-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“add fuel to the fire” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
20
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To worsen a conflict between people; to inflame an already tense situation.

Key facts for add fuel to the fire
PropertyValue
Headwordadd fuel to the fire
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters20
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “add fuel to the fire” sits in English frequency

add fuel to the fire falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

add fuel to the fire is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for add fuel to the fire in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is add fuel to the fire, spelled A-D-D- -F-U-E-L- -T-O- -T-H-E- -F-I-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To worsen a conflict between people; to inflame an already tense situation.
  2. 2
    Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see add, fuel, fire.

This word in other languages

dar pábulo(Español)jeter de l'huile sur le feu(Français)Öl ins Feuer gießen(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "add fuel to the fire"?
"add fuel to the fire" is spelled A-D-D- -F-U-E-L- -T-O- -T-H-E- -F-I-R-E.
What does "add fuel to the fire" mean?
As a verb, "add fuel to the fire" means: To worsen a conflict between people; to inflame an already tense situation.
What language does "add fuel to the fire" come from?
"add fuel to the fire" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “add fuel to the fire”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is A-D-D- -F-U-E-L- -T-O- -T-H-E- -F-I-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list