Infernal Meaning
/ɪnˈfɜː(ɹ)nəl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjOf or relating to hell, or the world of the dead; hellish.
adjOf or relating to a fire or inferno.
Sentence Examples
No one has crossed that infernal desert in hundreds of years.
By the chalice of Jesus, Reverend hermit, what is this infernal liquor?
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ noise from the construction site kept me awake all night.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Turning off that ____ noise from the neighbor's house was the only way he could fall asleep.
Word Origin & History
From Middle French infernal, from Medieval Latin infernalis, from Latin īnfernus, from īnferum (“netherworld, underworld, hell”), equivalent to inferno + -al.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"He proffered a pact to Satan, calling upon the Fiend and working himself into a frenzy - but his infernal majesty failed to respond."
— 1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 119:
"Th' infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile
Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv'd
The Mother of Mankind"
— 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book I, lines 34–36:
"the instruments or abettors in such infernal dealings"
— 1711 December 18 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “FRIDAY, 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:
"As I had to put up with the patronage and the lecturings, and the eyeglass of that infernal old woman, […]"
— 1905, Bram Stoker, The Man:
"When are you ever going to learn to mind your own infernal business?"
— 1982, Sharon Green, The Warrior Within, page 10:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ noise from the construction site kept me awake all night.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Turning off that ____ noise from the neighbor's house was the only way he could fall asleep.