infernal vs inferno, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“infernal” is an adjective and “inferno” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,956
“infernal” frequency rank: #19,621
“inferno” frequency rank: 48577
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	infernal	inferno
Definition	Of or relating to hell, or the world of the dead; hellish.	A place or situation resembling Hell.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set infernal and inferno apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

infernal

7 ch

inferno

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: infernal is /ɪnˈfɜː(ɹ)nəl/ while inferno is /ɪnˈfɝnoʊ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48577, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

infernal is recorded at frequency rank #28,956, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈfɜː(ɹ)nəl/. inferno is at rank #19,621, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪnˈfɝnoʊ/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 48577, this pair ranks #191,717 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of infernal vs inferno

Shared letters: efinr. Private to "infernal": al. Private to "inferno": o.

"infernal" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "inferno" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

infernal ← ifnernal · inefrnal · infenral · inferanl · infernall · infernla · infernnal · inferrnal
inferno ← ifnerno · inefrno · infenro · infernno · inferon · inferrno · infferno · infreno

Frequency comparison

infernal#28,956

inferno#19,621

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "infernal" and "inferno" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "infernal" is an adjective and "inferno" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "infernal" or "inferno"?

"inferno" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,621 in our English list, against #28,956 for "infernal". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering infernal vs inferno

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “infernal”; for a noun, it's “inferno”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “infernal” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable