infernal

/\ɛ̃.fɛʁ.nal\/ adj

Letters

8 characters

Frequency Rank

#19,873

in French word usage

Misspellings

12

tracked variants

Confusables

3

similar word pairs

infernal is anFrenchadj. It means: Qui appartient à l’enfer. Pronounced \ɛ̃.fɛʁ.nal\. Often confused with internat and infernale.

Key facts for infernal
PropertyValue
Headwordinfernal
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdj
IPA\ɛ̃.fɛʁ.nal\
Letters8
Frequency rank#19,873
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of infernal in French word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for infernal is 8 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ɛ̃.fɛʁ.nal\. Corpus data places it at rank #19,873 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 12 documented wrong-spelling variants for infernal, with forms such as "ifnernal", "inefrnal", and "infenral". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "internat", "infernale", "infernales", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is infernal, spelled I-N-F-E-R-N-A-L, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui appartient à l’enfer.
  2. 2
    Qui est digne de l'enfer ; qui le rappelle.
  3. 3
    Qui fait un bruit discordant, démoniaque.
  4. 4
    Qui dénote beaucoup de méchanceté, de noirceur, de cruauté.
  5. 5
    Qualifie une personne turbulente, agitée, une personne qui nous fait vivre l'enfer

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ifnernal,inefrnal,infenral,inferanl,infernall,infernla,infernnal,inferrnal,inffernal,infrenal,innfernal,nifernal

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for infernal

Misspelling Variants of "infernal"

ifnernal8inefrnal8infenral8inferanl8infernall9infernla8infernnal9inferrnal9
Misspelling Variants of "infernal"

Frequency rank: #19,873 in French

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "infernal"?
"infernal" is spelled I-N-F-E-R-N-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is \ɛ̃.fɛʁ.nal\.
What does "infernal" mean?
As an adj, "infernal" means: Qui appartient à l’enfer.
What words are commonly confused with "infernal"?
"infernal" is commonly confused with "internat", "infernale", "infernales". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "infernal"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "infernal" is \ɛ̃.fɛʁ.nal\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "infernal" come from?
"infernal" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter I in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.