infernal

English

Alternative forms

• infernall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle French infernal, from Medieval Latin infernalis, from Latin īnfernus, from īnferum (“netherworld, underworld, hell”), equivalent to inferno +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈfɜː(ɹ)nəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈfɝnəl/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)nəl

Adjective

infernal (comparative more infernal, superlative most infernal)

1. Of or relating to hell, or the world of the dead; hellish.

   Synonyms: hellish, helly, stygian; see also Thesaurus:infernal

   Antonyms: celestial, heavenly

   • 1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 119:

     He proffered a pact to Satan, calling upon the Fiend and working himself into a frenzy - but his infernal majesty failed to respond.

2. (by extension) Of or relating to a fire or inferno.

   Synonym: fiery

3. Stygian, gloomy.

   Synonyms: cimmerian, dusky, tenebrous; see also Thesaurus:dark

4. Diabolical or fiendish.
   • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book I, lines 34–36:

     Th' infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile
     Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv'd
     The Mother of Mankind

   • 1711 December 19 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “SATURDAY, December 8, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 244; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:

     the instruments or abettors in such infernal dealings

     The spelling has been modernized.

5. (as an expletive) Very annoying; damned.

   Synonyms: blessed, bloody; see also Thesaurus:damned

   • 1905, Bram Stoker, The Man:

     As I had to put up with the patronage and the lecturings, and the eyeglass of that infernal old woman, […]

   • 1982, Sharon Green, The Warrior Within, page 10:

     When are you ever going to learn to mind your own infernal business?

Derived terms

• infernal device
• infernalism
• infernalist
• infernality
• infernally
• infernal machine
• infernal stone

Related terms

• inferno

Translations

of or relating to hell, or the world of the dead; hellish

• Arabic: جَحِيمِيّ (jaḥīmiyy), جَهَنَّمِيّ (jahannamiyy)
• Armenian: դժոխային (hy) (džoxayin)
• Belarusian: пяке́льны (pjakjélʹny)
• Bulgarian: а́дски (bg) (ádski), пъ́клен (bg) (pắklen)
• Catalan: infernal (ca)
• Czech: pekelný (cs)
• Dutch: hels (nl), infernaal (nl)
• Esperanto: infera
• Finnish: helvetillinen (fi)
• French: infernal (fr)

  Old French: infernal

• German: höllisch (de), infernalisch (de)
• Greek: καταχθόνιος (el) (katachthónios)

  Ancient Greek: χθόνιος (khthónios)

• Indonesian: bedebah (id)
• Italian: infernale (it)
• Latin: infernus
• Macedonian: пеколен (pekolen), адски (adski)
• Norman: înfèrna
• Polish: piekielny (pl)
• Portuguese: infernal (pt)
• Romanian: infernal (ro)
• Russian: а́дский (ru) (ádskij), а́довый (ru) (ádovyj)
• Sanskrit: नारक (sa) (nāraka)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: па̀клен

  Latin: pàklen (sh)

• Slovak: pekelný
• Slovene: peklenski
• Spanish: infernal (es)
• Swedish: helvetisk (sv)
• Ukrainian: пеке́льний (pekélʹnyj)
• Urdu: جَہَنَّمی (jahannamī)

by extension: of or relating to a great fire or inferno

• Dutch: infernaal (nl)

stygian, gloomy

diabolical or fiendish

• Bulgarian: дя́волски (bg) (djávolski)
• Dutch: duivels (nl), hels (nl), infernaal (nl)
• Finnish: pirullinen (fi)
• Indonesian: bedebah (id)
• Polish: diabelski (pl)
• Russian: чёртовый (ru) (čórtovyj)
• Swedish: infernalisk (sv)

UK, as an expletive: very annoying; damned

• Bulgarian: прокле́т (bg) (proklét)
• Dutch: hels (nl), infernaal (nl)
• Indonesian: bedebah (id)
• Russian: прокля́тый (ru) (prokljátyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• German: ^{(please verify)} höllisch (de), ^{(please verify)} Höllen-, ^{(please verify)} infernalisch (de)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} infernal (es)

Noun

infernal (plural infernals)

1. An inhabitant of the infernal regions, a demon.

References

“infernal”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin īnfernālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.fɛʁ.nal/

Adjective

infernal (feminine infernale, masculine plural infernaux, feminine plural infernales)

1. (relational) hell; infernal
2. (figuratively) infernal, hellish, awful, terrible

Derived terms

• infernalement

Related terms

• enfer

Further reading

• “infernal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Old French

Etymology

From Latin infernālis.

Adjective

infernal m (oblique and nominative feminine singular infernale)

1. infernal (relating to hell)

Declension

	Case	masculine	feminine	neuter
singular	subject	infernals, infernaus, infernax	infernale	infernal
	oblique	infernal			infernale	infernal
plural	subject	infernal	infernales		infernal
	oblique	infernals, infernaus, infernax			infernales	infernal

Descendants

• English: infernal
• French: infernal
• Norman: înfèrna

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.feʁˈnaw/ [ĩ.feɦˈnaʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.feʁˈnaw/ [ĩ.feɦˈnaʊ̯]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ĩ.feɾˈnaw/ [ĩ.feɾˈnaʊ̯]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ĩ.feʁˈnaw/ [ĩ.feʁˈnaʊ̯]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ĩ.feɻˈnaw/ [ĩ.feɻˈnaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.fɨɾˈnal/ [ĩ.fɨɾˈnaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.fɨɾˈnal/ [ĩ.fɨɾˈnaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.fɨɾˈna.li/

• Rhymes: -al, -aw
• Hyphenation: in‧fer‧nal

Adjective

infernal m or f (plural infernais)

1. (Christianity) hellish; infernal (from or relating to hell)
2. diabolical; evil; infernal

   Synonyms: mau, diabólico, maldoso

Derived terms

• infernalmente

Related terms

• inferno

Further reading

• “infernal”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French infernal, from Latin infernalis. By surface analysis, infern +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

infernal m or n (feminine singular infernală, masculine plural infernali, feminine/neuter plural infernale)

1. infernal

Declension

Declension of infernal

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	infernal		infernală	infernali	infernale
	definite	infernalul		infernala	infernalii	infernalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	infernal		infernale	infernali	infernale
	definite	infernalului		infernalei	infernalilor	infernalelor

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin īnfernālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /infeɾˈnal/ [ĩɱ.feɾˈnal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: in‧fer‧nal

Adjective

infernal m or f (masculine and feminine plural infernales)

1. (relational) hell; infernal (of or relating to hell)
2. infernal, hellish (diabolical, fiendish)
3. infernal, hellish, hellacious, hell of (very annoying, damned)

Related terms

• infierno

Further reading

• “infernal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025