notoriety

noun no·to·ri·e·ty \ ˌnō-tə-ˈrī-ə-tē \

|Updated on: 16 Jun 2018

Examples: notoriety in a Sentence

Definition of notoriety

plural notorieties

1 : the quality or state of being notorious

the city's notoriety for corrupt and incompetent government
—R. E. Merriam

2 : a notorious person

love to have notabilities and notorieties under one roof
—The Times Literary Supplement (London)

See notoriety defined for English-language learners

See notoriety defined for kids

Examples of notoriety in a Sentence

He achieved instant fame and notoriety with the release of his film.
She gained notoriety when nude photographs of her appeared in a magazine.
His comment about the President has given him a notoriety that he enjoys very much.

Recent Examples of notoriety from the Web

Stewart gained a statewide following after nearly toppling Ed Gillespie in last year’s gubernatorial primary, and notoriety after associating with white supremacists.

— jenna portnoy, Washington Post, "Virginia voters go to the polls to nominate Rep. Comstock challenger, GOP Senate hopeful," 12 June 2018
And in 2016, Azalea the chimp at Pyongyang, North Korea’s Central Zoo gained notoriety for her ability to both light a cigarette and smoke it.

— kelli bender, PEOPLE.com, "Video Showing Zoo Guests Throwing Lit Cigarettes at Chimp Addicted to Smoking Causes Outrage," 7 June 2018
Yet the hillsides had scarcely begun to gain notoriety before massive restrictions were instated on their planting.

— esther mobley, San Francisco Chronicle, "The rise of the Red Hills of Lake County," 1 June 2018
Feuds are an integral part of rap: artists gain notoriety, win fans and develop followings on the power of their diss tracks and clapbacks.

— raisa bruner, Time, "What You Need to Know About the Feud Between Rappers Drake and Pusha-T," 31 May 2018
And social media has driven a hunger for notoriety at any cost.

— Fox News, "Gutfeld: Laurel or Yanny is greatest metaphor for media bias," 20 May 2018
Their target audience is a generation of people who weren't even alive when Rajneesh rose to worldwide fame and then notoriety.

— anna douglas, charlotteobserver, "He was captured in the middle of the night on a Charlotte runway. Now it's on Netflix. | Charlotte Observer," 23 Apr. 2018
Eventually, his desperation for notoriety mounting, Zama volunteers to hunt down and capture a famed outlaw who remains at large.

— david sims, The Atlantic, "Zama Is a Surreal Satire of Colonialism," 19 Apr. 2018
Wheeler launched his campaign for notoriety by posting a Durango for sale on eBay, using photographs of the one that Leroux had built.

— brendan i. koerner, WIRED, "The Young and the Reckless," 17 Apr. 2018

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