Advancing high temperature technologies pushes the envelope of the service conditions to new extremes. However, corrosion of refractories substantially decreases the service life and causes unscheduled shutdown of manufacturing and processing plants. In this paper, corrosion of refractories in gaseous environments is reviewed. The corrosion mechanisms of alumina refractories, including alumino‐silicates and zirconia as oxide, and silicon carbide as non‐oxide refractory are emphasized due to their broad array of applications. It is shown that carbonaceous atmosphere and water vapor are detrimental for the oxide refractories. Interaction with water vapor leads to formation of the volatile species and subsequent recession of the refractories. Carbonaceous atmosphere leads to the decomposition of even mullite, which is categorized as neutral refractory due to its excellent thermochemical stability. Oxidizing atmosphere with water vapor dominates the corrosion of non‐oxide refractories. Presence of impurities, even parts per million level, in the gas stream such as alkali vapor and halogens can alter the corrosion mechanisms and favor “hot corrosion.”