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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

infernos plural

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.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• infernos
  plural

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

Only someone who says he was reborn in the inferno of the Palisades fire could possess the clarity and willpower needed to bring salvation to an accursed land, they argue.

From Los Angeles Times • May 30, 2026

Footage shows the towering rocket erupt in an inferno, followed by a mushroom cloud of smoke as bystanders gathered to watch the launch gasp "Oh no!" and "Oh my God!"

From Barron's • May 29, 2026

But the phantom inferno keeps breaking out, she said, and recently a long, funnel-shaped reflection in her window prompted another false warning: “Tornado sighted.”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 5, 2026

And if a spark did catch, it could quickly mirror the inferno that was engulfing Pacific Palisades, or worse.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

How could she ever get accustomed to this inferno?

From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson

Related Words

• purgatory