inferno

[ in-fur-noh; Italian een-fer-naw ]

noun

, plural in·fer·nos.

1. hell; the infernal regions.
2. a place or region that resembles hell:

   The ironworks was an inferno of molten steel and half-naked bodies.

   Synonyms: oven, hellhole, furnace

3. (initial capital letter, italics) the first part of Dante's Divine Comedy, depicting hell and the suffering of the damned. Compare paradise ( def 7 ), purgatory ( def 2 ).

inferno

/ ɪnˈfɜːnəʊ /

noun

1. the inferno
   sometimes capital hell; the infernal region
2. any place or state resembling hell, esp a conflagration

Inferno

1. The first section of The Divine Comedy, by Dante . Inferno is the Italian word for “ hell .”

Notes

By extension, an “inferno” is a hot and terrible place or condition.

Word History and Origins

Origin of inferno¹

1825–35; < Italian < Late Latin infernus hell, noun use of Latin infernus; infernal

Word History and Origins

Origin of inferno¹

C19: from Italian, from Late Latin infernus hell

Example Sentences

Another neighbor drove her car directly through the Jensens property to escape the inferno, which had already blocked off the sole escape route.

From Los Angeles Times

Lesley Reynolds, the charity’s director of operations, thanked crews for “valiantly battling the inferno with an incredible emergency plan in place”.

From BBC

His hand can be seen, reaching out of the inferno, a figure wrapped in flame, writhing and beyond the reach of any help.

From BBC

Of the 100 people wounded in the inferno, several remain in hospital with life-threatening injuries.

From BBC

As each day brings escalation toward a global nuclear inferno, standard-issue legislators on both sides of the aisle keep boosting the Pentagon budget.

From Salon

Related Words

• purgatory