Hypertext Webster Gateway: "infernal"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Infernal \In*fer"nal\, n.
An inhabitant of the infernal regions; also, the place
itself. [Obs.] --Drayton.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Infernal \In*fer"nal\, a. [F. infernal, L. infernalis, fr.
infernus that which lies beneath, the lower. See {Inferior}.]
1. Of or pertaining to or suitable for the lower regions,
inhabited, according to the ancients, by the dead;
pertaining to Pluto's realm of the dead, the Tartarus of
the ancients.
The Elysian fields, the infernal monarchy. --Garth.
2. Of or pertaining to, resembling, or inhabiting, hell;
suitable for hell, or to the character of the inhabitants
of hell; hellish; diabolical; as, infernal spirits, or
conduct.
The instruments or abettors in such infernal
dealings. --Addison.
{Infernal machine}, a machine or apparatus maliciously
designed to explode, and destroy life or property.
{Infernal stone} (lapis infernalis), lunar caustic; formerly
so called. The name was also applied to caustic potash.
Syn: Tartarean; Stygian; hellish; devilish; diabolical;
satanic; fiendish; malicious.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
infernal
adj 1: characteristic of or resembling hell; "infernal heat and
noise"
2: extremely evil or cruel; expressive of cruelty or befitting
hell; "something demonic in him--something that could be
cruel"; "fires lit up a diabolic scene"; "diabolical
sorcerers under the influence of devils"; "a fiendish
despot"; "hellish torture"; "infernal instruments of war";
"satanic cruelty"; "unholy grimaces" [syn: {demonic}, {diabolic},
{diabolical}, {fiendish}, {hellish}, {satanic}, {unholy}]
3: expletives used informally as intensifiers; "he's a blasted
idiot"; "it's a blamed shame"; "a blame cold winter"; "not
a blessed dime"; "I'll be damned (or blessed or darned or
goddamned) if I'll do any such thing"; "he's a damn (or
goddam or goddamned) fool"; "a deuced idiot"; "tired or
his everlasting whimpering"; "an infernal nuisance" [syn:
{blasted}, {blame}, {blamed}, {blessed}, {damn}, {damned},
{darned}, {deuced}, {everlasting}, {goddam}, {goddamn}, {goddamned}]
4: relating to or inhabiting hell; "his infernal majesty";
"infernal fires"; "infernal punishments"
5: being of a lower world of the dead; "infernal regions" [ant:
{supernal}]
n : an inhabitant of hell; "his roar made the infernals quake"
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