Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Damaged or altered by fire or intense heat: Describes something that has been affected by burning, often resulting in charring, blackening, or destruction.
   • Treated with heat: Refers to a material, especially clay or pigment, that has been subjected to high temperatures in a controlled process.
   • Overcooked to the point of being charred or blackened: Used to describe food that has been cooked for too long or at too high a temperature.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The firefighters sifted through the burnt remains of the building.
  • The artist preferred the rich, reddish-brown color of burnt sienna.
  • I can't eat this toast; it's completely burnt.

Advanced Usage

• "Burnt" vs. "Burned": In many contexts, especially as a verb form, "burned" is standard. However, "burnt" is common as an adjective, particularly in British English, and in certain fixed expressions.

  • The logs were burnt to ash. (Adjective describing the logs' state)
  • He burned the logs. (Verb describing the action)

• "Burnt-out": Completely exhausted, depleted of energy or resources, or destroyed by fire.

  • After working 80-hour weeks for a year, she felt completely burnt-out.
  • They surveyed the burnt-out shell of the factory.

Variants and Related Words

• Burn (verb): To be consumed or destroyed by fire; to injure or damage by heat or a similar agent.
• Burned (adjective/verb): An alternative form, often used interchangeably with "burnt," especially in American English.
• Burning (adjective/gerund): On fire; very hot; intense.

Synonyms

• Charred: Blackened by fire; partially burned.
• Scorched: Slightly burned or discolored by heat.
• Singed: Burned superficially.
• Overdone: Cooked too much.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• A burnt offering: Originally a religious sacrifice burned on an altar; now sometimes used humorously for badly cooked food.
• Burnt to a crisp: Completely charred or overcooked.
  • I left the chicken in the oven too long, and now it's burnt to a crisp.
• To get one's fingers burnt / To get burnt: To suffer unpleasant consequences, especially financial losses, from an action.
  • He got his fingers burnt investing in that risky startup.

Adjective

1. destroyed or badly damaged by fire
   • a row of burned houses
   • a charred bit of burnt wood
   • a burned-over site in the forest
   • barricaded the street with burnt-out cars
2. treated by heating to a high temperature but below the melting or fusing point
   • burnt sienna
3. ruined by overcooking
   • she served us underdone bacon and burnt biscuits