infamous

adjective

in·fa·mous | \ ˈin-fə-məs

Definition of infamous

1 : having a reputation of the worst kind : notoriously evil an infamous traitor

2 : causing or bringing infamy : disgraceful an infamous crime

3 : convicted of an offense bringing infamy

Other Words from infamous Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about infamous

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Examples of infamous in a Sentence

The most infamous of South America's poisonous snakes are the ringed coral snake and the pit viper. — Candice Millard, The River of Doubt, 2005 Clemens is famous, or maybe infamous, for his brushback pitches and in particular for his penchant for "doubling up," throwing two brushbacks in a row. — Pat Jordan, New York Times Magazine, 4 Mar. 2001 Instead we invoke the infamous dark matter, also known to make up most of the mass of other galaxies (both spiral and elliptical), clusters of galaxies, and the universe. What is it? Your guess may not be quite as good as mine, but almost. — Virginia Trimble et al., Sky & Telescope, January 1995 a city infamous for poverty and crime He committed an infamous crime.

Recent Examples on the Web

Meanwhile, a Navy Lieutenant in protective custody gets poisoned by an infamous drug dealer. — Megan Stein, Country Living, "Is 'NCIS' on Tonight?," 29 Jan. 2019 The most infamous incident took place on May 17, 2013, when Orthodox Christian Georgian priests led a march against gay-rights activists, who at the time were holding a peaceful protest. — Liana Satenstein, Vogue, "Meet Gerilyn, Tbilisi’s Queen of Drag," 21 Nov. 2018 But some of the most infamous stock-market crashes ever have also happened in October: 1929, 1987, and a smaller but more recent tumble in 2014. — Amrith Ramkumar, WSJ, "Commodities Investors Enter October Bracing for Losses," 1 Oct. 2018 Joaquin Phoenix is officially stepping into The Joker for a Warner Bros. origin story depicting DC Comic's most infamous, and arguably overexposed, villain. — Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, "Joaquin Phoenix's Joker origin story is officially on and fans are irked," 10 July 2018 The bust of Cristiano Ronaldo at the airport named in his honor on his home island is one of the most infamous examples of a sculpture gone awry. — Dan Gartland, SI.com, "New Airport Bust Finally Does Cristiano Ronaldo’s Beautiful Face Justice," 18 June 2018 The board includes Marc Elias, the Democratic lawyer behind the infamous Steele dossier, and John Podesta, chairman of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign. — Kimberley A. Strassel, WSJ, "The Trump ‘Ethics’ Resistance," 27 Dec. 2018 Chicago Fire is becoming infamous for its questionable decisions to kill off beloved characters. — Kelly O'sullivan, Country Living, "'Chicago Fire' Shocked Everyone With This Devastating Death," 5 Nov. 2018 Earlier this year, Logan Paul stirred widespread controversy after filming a dead body in Japan, while his brother Jake Paul, who fought in the undercard, became infamous for being obnoxious. — Patricia Hernandez, The Verge, "More people watched the Logan Paul vs KSI fight on Twitch than on YouTube," 25 Aug. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'infamous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near infamous

infamous crime against nature

infamy

Statistics for infamous

Last Updated

8 Feb 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for infamous

The first known use of infamous was in the 14th century

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More Definitions for infamous

infamous

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of infamous

: well-known for being bad : known for evil acts or crimes

: causing people to think you are bad or evil

See the full definition for infamous in the English Language Learners Dictionary

infamous

adjective

in·fa·mous | \ ˈin-fə-məs

Kids Definition of infamous

1 : having an evil reputation an infamous murderer

2 : evil entry 1 sense 1, bad an infamous crime

infamous

adjective

in·fa·mous | \ ˈin-fə-məs

Legal Definition of infamous

: of, relating to, or being a crime punishable by imprisonment (as a year or more in a penitentiary) that can lead to loss of rights and privileges upon conviction also : convicted of such a crime