inferno

[in-fur-noh, een-fer-naw]

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.

inferno

/ ɪnˈfɜːnəʊ /

noun

1. (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.”

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

A trial over the inferno is due to start Wednesday in the capital.

Read more on Barron's

He wrote, “The bed, naturally enough, caught on fire, and Keith and Donna barely escaped the sudden inferno with their skins intact. The room was a total loss.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The investigation, they said, is necessary to “uncover and expose the truth” about how the state and local governments responded to the inferno, which broke out amid hurricane-force winds and quickly overwhelmed firefighting resources.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Left to her own devices by a pandering script, she alone draws the line where loneliness ends and freedom begins, keeping “Die My Love” from plunging completely into its self-made inferno.

Read more on Salon

The inferno, which killed 19 people in Altadena, ignited in high winds under an Edison transmission line.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• purgatory