infamous

Q: Is being infamous always a bad thing?

Infamous has a small range of meanings, and none of them are ones that most people would care to be described with. It may mean " notoriously evil," "disgraceful," or "convicted of an offense bringing infamy " ( infamy is "evil reputation brought about by something grossly criminal, shocking, or brutal").

Q: Is 'infamous' the opposite of 'famous'?

Infamous is not the opposite of famous . It does not mean "not famous" or "exceptionally famous." It means "having a reputation of the worst kind." Although the in - prefix often indicates negation or gives a meaning opposite to the word it is attached to, it occasionally will have other meanings, such as "inward" and "thoroughly."

adjective

in·fa·mous ˈin-fə-məs

Synonyms of infamous next

: having a reputation of the worst kind : notoriously evil

an infamous traitor

: causing or bringing infamy : disgraceful

an infamous crime

: convicted of an offense bringing infamy

infamously adverb

Frequently Asked Questions

Is being infamous always a bad thing?

Infamous has a small range of meanings, and none of them are ones that most people would care to be described with. It may mean "notoriously evil," "disgraceful," or "convicted of an offense bringing infamy" (infamy is "evil reputation brought about by something grossly criminal, shocking, or brutal").

Is infamous the opposite of famous?

Infamous is not the opposite of famous. It does not mean "not famous" or "exceptionally famous." It means "having a reputation of the worst kind." Although the in- prefix often indicates negation or gives a meaning opposite to the word it is attached to, it occasionally will have other meanings, such as "inward" and "thoroughly."

What is the difference between unfamous and infamous?

Although it would appear that both of these words are created by adding a similar prefix to the word famous, they actually have quite different meanings. Infamous means "notoriously evil," whereas unfamous simply means "not famous." Infamous is by far the more commonly-used of the two.

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 Gill unexpectedly advances to the infamous world of quasi-celebrity, which is where Gillespie locates his real subject: American class status. —

Armond White, National Review, 27 Sep. 2023 From the Broadway stages to the penthouse of the infamous Arconia (which is a real building on New York City’s Upper West Side called The Belnord), Howe carefully considered how to world-build each set in a realistic way while keeping the characters’ personalities at the forefront. —

Bryce Jones, Better Homes & Gardens, 26 Sep. 2023 In 1991, the son attended an infamous meeting at which prosecutors believe the Sicilian Mafia families decided to wage war against the central government by pulling off the high-profile assassinations and bombings of the early 1990s. —

Gaia Pianigiani, New York Times, 25 Sep. 2023 But that changed on November 2, 2021, when hundreds of people from around the country gathered at the infamous grassy knoll in Dallas’ Dealey Plaza, where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. —

Donie O'Sullivan, CNN, 23 Sep. 2023 Tananarive Due could, by piecing together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and bringing his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light in this riveting novel. —

Sarah Yang, Sunset Magazine, 22 Sep. 2023 And now, in just two weeks time, the criminal trial of infamous crypto founder Sam Bankman-Fried will commence in New York, where jurors will hear about the most spectacular startup collapse in history, and decide how much its founder, SBF, is to blame. —

Jessica Mathews, Fortune, 21 Sep. 2023 In 2005, Botero created a series of 79 paintings that depicted U.S. soldiers torturing Iraqis at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, just a year after the incident came to light. —

Manuel Rueda The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 16 Sep. 2023 New York Fashion Week is infamous for utter chaos but even more than that, the best after parties. —

Kerane Marcellus, Essence, 15 Sep. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'infamous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin infamis, from in- + fama fame

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

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

See more words from the same century

Cite this Entry

Style

“Infamous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/infamous. Accessed 3 Oct. 2023.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

infamous

adjective

in·fa·mous ˈin-fə-məs

: having an evil reputation

an infamous traitor

: causing or bringing an evil reputation : detestable

an infamous crime

infamously adverb

Legal Definition

infamous

adjective

in·fa·mous ˈin-fə-məs

: 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