balls of fire
Fiery celestial bodies
Balls of fire appears mainly in the exclamation great balls of fire! , expressing astonishment or alarm.
The phrase evokes dramatic celestial imagery—meteors, comets, or lightning—though it functions as a mild oath, perhaps a euphemism for hell.
Jerry Lee Lewis's 1957 song cemented it in American popular culture.
Someone described as a ball of fire is intensely energetic or dynamic.
- flareSudden bright burst
- infernoDevastating, uncontrollable blaze
- blazeIntense burning fire
- heatTransferred thermal energy
- blazing sunIntensely hot daylight
Jerry Lee Lewis · meteor · comet · radiance · combustion · glow · phoenix · flash · light up the night · shooting star · supernova · solar flare · hellfire · ignition · divine wrath · will-o'-the-wisp · bolide · folklore
balls of firewet blankets
Those who dampen enthusiasm
cold fish · sticks in the mud · duds · bores · wallflowers
ball, balls, fire, fires, fired, firing, fireball, fireballs