inferno

[ in-fur-noh; for 3 also Italian een-fer-naw ]

/ ɪnˈfɜr noʊ; for 3 also Italian inˈfɛr nɔ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR inferno ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural in·fer·nos.

hell; the infernal regions.

a place or region that resembles hell: The ironworks was an inferno of molten steel and half-naked bodies.

(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).

Nearby words

Origin of inferno

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

SYNONYMS FOR inferno

2 furnace, hellhole, oven.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR inferno ON THESAURUS.COM

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for inferno

You go right straight into the inferno, and when you get older, you pull back.
The Stacks: The Eyes of Winter: Paul Newman at 70|Peter Richmond|October 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Their captivity was a pretty big story for a while, but then came September, and the inferno of Lower Manhattan.
The Right Didn’t Mind When Bush Paid a Ransom to Terrorists|Michael Tomasky|June 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Now Paradise and the Inferno are understood philosophically as states of being, not places on a chart.
Vatican Science on Christmas and Creationism|Christopher Dickey|December 22, 2013|DAILY BEAST
A sitcom conceived by, written by, and starring her understandably ignited an inferno of buzz.
Rebel Wilson’s ‘Super Fun Night’ Is Not So Fun|Kevin Fallon|October 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Still, one can easily envision hordes clutching their dog-eared paperbacks of Inferno straining to find the flag.
Dan Brown’s ‘Inferno’ Sparks Dante Fever in Florence|Barbie Latza Nadeau|May 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He had seen the gates of the Inferno, and was now snatched up to Paradise.
The Price of Love|Arnold Bennett
See the "Inferno" of Dante, where this motto is inscribed over the entrance into the abodes of woe.
The Works of William Cowper|William Cowper
Human endurance could not stand before this carnage, and the brave Missourians fled from the inferno.
The Civil War Through the Camera|Henry W. (Henry William) Elson
In the Inferno she sees all the wicked vices in action, and in the Paradise the graces attending on their queen Sensibility.
William Blake|Charles Gardner
We rested for a day there, and planned to make a journey of ten miles across country, to the falls of the Caldeirao do Inferno.
The Sea and the Jungle|H. M. Tomlinson

British Dictionary definitions for inferno

inferno

/ (ɪnˈfɜːnəʊ) /

noun plural -nos

the inferno (sometimes capital) hell; the infernal region

any place or state resembling hell, esp a conflagration

Word Origin for inferno

C19: from Italian, from Late Latin infernus hell

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for inferno

inferno

1834, from Italian inferno, from Latin infernus (see infernal).

Culture definitions for inferno

Inferno

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

Note

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

inferno

noun, plural in·fer·nos.

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Nearby words

Origin of inferno

Examples from the Web for inferno

British Dictionary definitions for inferno

inferno

noun plural -nos

Word Origin for inferno

Word Origin and History for inferno

inferno

Culture definitions for inferno

Inferno

Note