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

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 Gone are the iconic orange uniforms that made Camp X-Ray infamous. — Carol Rosenberg, miamiherald, "Blue is the new orange as Guantánamo preps for new prisoners, maybe ISIS fighters," 20 June 2018 Since her debut as Hannah Montana in 2006, the singer's personal style has evolved over and over again from bubble gum teen pop star to country sweetheart, '90s club kid, and various infamous style moments in-between. — Lauren Alexis Fisher, Harper's BAZAAR, "Miley Cyrus’ DIY T-Shirt Just Sent a Powerful Message On Gun Control," 11 Dec. 2018 After riding one of the tech industry’s most infamous hype cycles—the swift rise and sudden fall of 3D-printing mania—Steiner and Kemperle made their exit from MakerBot in 2014 and teamed up. — Josh Snider, Popular Mechanics, "The Everything Workshop," 4 Dec. 2018 How does someone with no explicit background in firearms or tech end up at the most infamous company at the intersection of those two things? — Nathan Mattise, Ars Technica, "Cody Wilson was Defense Distributed—so who is the organization’s new leader?," 6 Oct. 2018 The South China Morning Post reports that the infamous scientist has gone missing. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "The Infamous CRISPR Baby Scientist Is Missing," 3 Dec. 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

11 Jan 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