Inferno

//ɪnˈfɝnoʊ// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A place or situation resembling Hell.

    "At each sudden explosion in the inferno below they sprang back from the brink [of the volcanic crater]."

  2. 2
    (Christianity) the abode of Satan and the forces of evil; where sinners suffer eternal punishment wordnet
  3. 3
    A large fire; a conflagration.

    "The inferno ripped through the forest, destroying anything in its path."

  4. 4
    a very intense and uncontrolled fire wordnet
  5. 5
    any place of pain and turmoil wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
conflagrationhellfireabaddonabyssafterlife

Antonyms

All antonyms
heaven

Example

More examples

"It is impossible to burn a copy of Dante's Inferno because the ice of the ninth layer of hell will put out any fires kindled with earlier pages."

Etymology

From Italian inferno (“hell”), from Latin infernus (“of the lower regions”), inferna (“the lower regions”); see infernal. The meaning "big fire" came as a figurative use from the traditional idea of hellfire.

Related phrases

towering infernoburning helldante bookgreat heathell heathuge firelarge firemassive fireraging firetowering fire

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.