Dantean
adjective
Dan·te·an
ˈdan-tē-ən 
ˈdän-
ˈdän-
: of, relating to, or suggestive of Dante or his writings
especially
: having a hellish or bizarre quality
… refugees lived a Dantean existence … —
Albert E. Cowdrey
Albert E. Cowdrey Examples of Dantean in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The book is, instead, a sober Inferno, a hellish manual of cautionary tales, with the increasingly frustrated White as a Dantean guide into the hot depths.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024
Remember the biblical storm that swept Texas in February 2021, shutting down the state’s utility grid, plunging millions of residents into Dantean cold and dark for days, and leaving at least 246 people dead?
—Will Swaim, National Review, 2 Apr. 2023
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Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024
Remember the biblical storm that swept Texas in February 2021, shutting down the state’s utility grid, plunging millions of residents into Dantean cold and dark for days, and leaving at least 246 people dead?
—Will Swaim, National Review, 2 Apr. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Dantean.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Dantean. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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