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• inferno
  inferno

  noun

  hell; the infernal regions.
• Inferno
  Inferno

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

inferno

American  

[in-fur-noh, een-fer-naw] / ɪnˈfɜr noʊ, inˈfɛr nɔ /

noun

plural

infernos

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.

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inferno British  

/ ɪnˈfɜːnəʊ /

noun

1. (sometimes capital) hell; the infernal region

2. any place or state resembling hell, esp a conflagration

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Inferno Cultural  

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

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Discover More

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

Etymology

Origin of inferno

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

Explanation

An inferno is a huge fire that's difficult to control, like an inferno that burns down a whole city block. Inferno also can describe any horrible place where people suffer. The Latin word infernus means "of the lower regions." Using inferno to mean "hell" is credited to medieval Italian poet Dante Alighieri. Dante's epic poem the Divine Comedy contains one part titled The Inferno, which tells of a journey through the nine circles of hell full of torture, pain, and imagery of red — flames, boiling blood, and so on.

Example Sentences

The roughly 15,000-square-foot home was used as a filming location in the Oscar-winning movie ‘The Towering Inferno.’

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

He snagged roles in "Roots," "The Klansman" and "The Towering Inferno."

From Salon • Apr. 11, 2024

Supposedly the inspiration for Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, the land here is a web of natural cracks in the rock that let a mix of steam and gasses reach the surface.

From National Geographic • Feb. 2, 2024

Campbell captained Cornell University’s team in 2013-14 before playing three seasons for the Calgary Inferno of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 25, 2023

However, she had already made a false start with Dante’s Inferno and had to abandon reading it partway through, and she did not want to repeat this misstep with the Hesperus.

From "The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious Howling" by Maryrose Wood

Related Words

• purgatory