Flamed

Flamed is the past tense of flame in various senses. In common modern usage, especially on the internet, to flame means to post or send a hostile, insulting, or inflammatory message directed at another person. When someone is described as having been flamed, they were the target of such a message, often in a heated online exchange. Flaming can occur in email, message boards, forums, social media, chat rooms, and comment sections, and may involve personal insults, demeaning language, or threats, though it can also be used in a humorous or hyperbolic way in some communities.

Flaming can escalate into a flame war, a protracted sequence of antagonistic messages that derails discussion. Moderators and platform policies commonly discourage or punish flaming, using tools such as deleting posts, muting, or banning accounts. The behavior is often attributed to anonymity, perceived impunity, or strong emotions, though it is opposed by most codes of online conduct.

In other contexts, flame has different meanings. In cooking, to flame or flambé is to set alcohol on fire briefly to ignite flavor; the past participle “flamed” might appear in culinary writing, though “flambéed” is more standard. In literature or film, “flamed” can describe something set on fire or vividly lit, though this use is less common.