inferno
noun
hell; the infernal regions.
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inferno
American
[in-fur-noh, een-fer-naw]
/ ɪnˈfɜr noʊ, inˈfɛr nɔ /
noun
-
infernos
plural
inferno
British
/ ɪnˈfɜːnəʊ /
noun
-
(sometimes capital) hell; the infernal region
-
any place or state resembling hell, esp a conflagration
Inferno
Cultural
Discover More
By extension, an “inferno” is a hot and terrible place or condition.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing inferno
Inferno Lingo: Fire Vocabulary
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This Week in Words: April 13–19, 2019
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2015 Spelling Bee - Words from Round 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The chips were made from trees killed in the 2020 Castle fire, an inferno that left thousands of acres of standing dead trunks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026
When they start shooting a movie together, they begin to understand their connection to this ancient evil, and their place in a cyclical inferno wrought by absent parents and bad weather.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
It was around 1:40 a.m. on a summer Saturday last month when Alcaraz’s cell ignited into an inferno.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
“When I looked out of my daughter’s bedroom, it looked like an inferno, an apocalypse,” she recalled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Queen Alysanne and Lady of Silk, still locked together, were a ranging green inferno, drifting downriver and dragging pieces of Lady’s Shame.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
By contrast, the Daily Mail opts for a much simpler single-word headline "Inferno" across a picture of burning houses in the West Midlands.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Dante Alighieri's Inferno may contain more than religious symbolism and poetic imagination.
From Science Daily ● May 11, 2026
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
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
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
Gone are the days of not decontaminating equipment, leaving the ashes on helmets and jackets, in order to boast of past infernos.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
A California wildfire bill aimed at paying survivors faster and limiting compensation for executives at electric companies that ignite destructive infernos unexpectedly died in the state legislature Tuesday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Scientists say human-caused climate change has made the extreme conditions that fuel those infernos twice as likely as in a pre-industrial climate.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
After these infernos, invasive grasses often took over in hardened, infertile soils.
From Salon ● Apr. 30, 2025
The current carried infernos everywhere, and their bright blazes turned the water into swirling oranges and reds.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
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