different between monstrous vs infernal

English

Etymology

From Middle English monstrous, from Old French monstrueuse, monstrüos, from Latin m?nstr?sus. Compare monstruous.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?m?nst??s/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m?nst??s/
• Hyphenation: mon?strous

Adjective

monstrous (comparative more monstrous, superlative most monstrous)

1. Hideous or frightful.
2. Enormously large.

   a monstrous height
3. Freakish or grotesque.

   • The irregular and monstrous births

   • 1650, Jeremy Taylor, The rule and exercises of holy living

     He, therefore, that refuses to do good to them whom he is bound to love […] is unnatural and monstrous in his affections.

4. Of, or relating to a mythical monster; full of monsters.
5. (obsolete) Marvellous; exceedingly strange; fantastical.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:gigantic

Translations

Middle English

Adjective

monstrous

1. Alternative form of monstruous

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.