different between infernal vs beastly

English

Etymology

From Middle French infernal, from Medieval Latin infernalis, from Latin ?nfernus, from ?nferum (“netherworld, underworld, hell”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?n?f??(?)n?l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?n?f??n?l/
• Rhymes: -??(?)n?l

Adjective

infernal (comparative more infernal, superlative most infernal)

1. Of or relating to hell, or the world of the dead; hellish.
2. (by extension) Of or relating to a fire or inferno.
3. Stygian, gloomy.
4. Diabolical or fiendish.

   • Th' infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile

     Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv'd

     The Mother of Mankind

   • the instruments or abettors in such infernal dealings

5. (as an expletive, not vulgar) Very annoying; 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, […]

Antonyms

• (of or relating to hell): heavenly
• (of or relating to hell, underworld or fire): celestial

Related terms

• infernal device
• infernally
• infernal machine
• inferno

Translations

Noun

infernal (plural infernals)

1. (obsolete) An inhabitant of the infernal regions.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Drayton to this entry?)

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin infern?lis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.f??.nal/

Adjective

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

1. infernal (relating to hell)
2. (figuratively) infernal, hellish, awful, terrible

Related terms

• enfer

Further reading

• “infernal” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Old French

Etymology

From Latin infern?lis

Adjective

infernal m (oblique and nominative feminine singular infernale)

1. infernal (relating to hell)

Declension

Descendants

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

Portuguese

Adjective

infernal m or f (plural infernais, comparable)

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

   Synonyms: mau, diabólico, maldoso

Related terms

• inferno

Romanian

Etymology

From French infernal, from Latin infernalis.

Adjective

infernal m or n (feminine singular infernal?, masculine plural infernali, feminine and neuter plural infernale)

1. infernal

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin infernalis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /infe??nal/, [??.fe??nal]

Adjective

infernal (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, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

English

Etymology

From Middle English beestly, bestely, beastelich, equivalent to beast +? -ly. Compare West Frisian bistachtich (“beastly”), Dutch beestachtig (“beastly”), German biestig (“beastly”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?bi?stli/
• Rhymes: -i?stli

Adjective

beastly (comparative beastlier or more beastly, superlative beastliest or most beastly)

1. (Britain) Pertaining to, or having the form, nature, or habits of, a beast.
2. (Britain) Similar to the nature of a beast; contrary to the nature and dignity of man

   Synonyms: brutal, filthy

3. (Britain, dated) Abominable.

4. (of computing hardware) Powerful, having a powerful appearance
   • 2010, January 11, Matthew DeCarlo, “Silverstone mini-ITX case can fit Radeon HD 5970”, TechSpot:

     In addition to a Core i7-860 with a full-sized heatsink and 4GB of DDR3 RAM, the company showed its SUGO SG07 housing today's most beastly graphics card, the dual-GPU Radeon HD 5970, which is about 30cm long.

   • 2014, March 21, Tycho de Feijter, “Hummer H2 is a Big Black Beast in the Rain in China”, CarNewsChina.com:

     A very big, very black, and very beastly Hummer H2, Spotted in China in in the rain the great city of Zigong in Sichuan Province.

   • 2018, October 16, Chris Smith, “Huawei just unveiled the most beastly Android phone the world has ever seen”, BGR:

     Huawei’s Mate 20 phones have instantly become the best iPhone XS rivals out there, at least on paper, and the high-end model is easily the most beastly Android phone the world has seen so far.

Usage notes

Most often used pejoratively, but sense 4 has predominantly positive connotations. Bestial is more narrow, though also often used pejoratively.

Synonyms

• (like a beast): bestial, animalian

Derived terms

• beastliness

Translations

Adverb

beastly (comparative more beastly, superlative most beastly)

1. Like a beast; brutishly.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.8:

     Beastly he threwe her downe, ne car'd to spill / Her garments gay with scales of fish that all did fill.

   • 1901, The Literary World - Volume 63 - Page 35:

     They have insulted me most beastly. Moreover, they are, everyone of them, black-satan filthmen.

Anagrams

• baetyls