Definition of NOTORIOUS

Choose the Right Synonym for notorious

famous, renowned, celebrated, noted, notorious, distinguished, eminent, illustrious mean known far and wide. famous implies little more than the fact of being, sometimes briefly, widely and popularly known. a famous actress renowned implies more glory and acclamation. one of the most renowned figures in sports history celebrated implies notice and attention especially in print. the most celebrated beauty of her day noted suggests well-deserved public attention. the noted mystery writer notorious frequently adds to famous an implication of questionableness or evil. a notorious gangster distinguished implies acknowledged excellence or superiority. a distinguished scientist who won the Nobel Prize eminent implies even greater prominence for outstanding quality or character. the country's most eminent writers illustrious stresses enduring honor and glory attached to a deed or person. illustrious war heroes

Did You Know?

Notorious was adopted into English in the 16th century from Medieval Latin notorius, itself from Late Latin's noun notorium, meaning "information" or "indictment." "Notorium," in turn, derives from the Latin verb noscere, meaning "to come to know." Although "notorious" can be a synonym of "famous," meaning simply "widely known," it long ago developed the additional implication of someone or something unpleasant or undesirable. The Book of Common Prayer Offices of 1549 includes the first known use of the unfavorable meaning in print, referring to "notorious synners."

Examples of notorious in a Sentence

The coach is notorious for his violent outbursts. a notorious mastermind of terrorist activities

Recent Examples on the Web

Speaking purely in terms of raw numbers, Shane Dawson’s eight-part documentary on the most notorious YouTuber on the planet has been a tremendous success — in less than 24 hours, the 105-minute finale has been watched 10 million times. — Patricia Hernandez, The Verge, "Jake Paul’s racism controversy reveals the flaw in Shane Dawson’s docuseries," 19 Oct. 2018 Perhaps the most notorious room is the leopard-print bathroom covered in Helmut Newton photographs—including Elsa Peretti in a bunny costume. — Kate Donnelly, Town & Country, "At Home with Texas Philanthropist Lynn Wyatt," 19 Oct. 2018 The most notorious of these loans was the 2/28 subprime adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM). — Jeff Andrews, Curbed, "10 years after the financial crisis, is the housing market still at risk?," 29 Aug. 2018 One prime example is the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a Jihadi-Salafi network whose members were responsible for some of Indonesia’s most notorious terrorist attacks, including the 2000 Christmas Eve bombings and the 2002 Bali bombing. — Julie Chernov Hwang, Washington Post, "New research shows why terrorists quit terrorism," 12 July 2018 Pressure is growing on direct-to-consumer genealogy and genetic testing companies to be more transparent about their privacy policies, after the arrest of the notorious Golden State Killer using publicly available data from one of the websites. — Megan Thielking, STAT, "Lawmakers press genetic testing companies for details on their privacy policies," 21 June 2018 Just in the past week alone, alligators have made news several times: And the most notorious recent alligator attack occurred in Walt Disney World in 2016, when an alligator dragged a 2-year-old boy to his death in a lake at the resort. — Doyle Rice, USA TODAY, "Alligators, sharks, mountain lions and other predators are making a comeback," 9 May 2018 In 1990, on the occasion of a soccer game in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, there was a notorious brawl between Serbs and Croats that left sixty people wounded. — Larry Wolff, WSJ, "Croatia Offers Redemption for Eastern Europe," 13 July 2018 The account shows how power imbalances within the banking industry prevent whistleblowers from coming forward and why there have been so few #metoo stories that have come out of Wall Street despite its notorious frat boy culture. — Longreads, "The Top 5 Longreads of the Week," 13 July 2018

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