Synonym Chooser

How is the word faithless different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of faithless are disloyal, false, perfidious, traitorous, and treacherous. While all these words mean "untrue to what should command one's fidelity or allegiance," faithless applies to any failure to keep a promise or pledge or any breach of allegiance or loyalty.

faithless allies

When can disloyal be used instead of faithless?

The synonyms disloyal and faithless are sometimes interchangeable, but disloyal implies a lack of complete faithfulness to a friend, cause, leader, or country.

disloyal to their country

When could false be used to replace faithless?

In some situations, the words false and faithless are roughly equivalent. However, false stresses the fact of failing to be true in any manner ranging from fickleness to cold treachery.

betrayed by false friends

How do perfidious and faithless relate to one another?

Perfidious adds to faithless the implication of an incapacity for fidelity or reliability.

a perfidious double-crosser

When is traitorous a more appropriate choice than faithless?

While the synonyms traitorous and faithless are close in meaning, traitorous implies either actual treason or a serious betrayal of trust.

traitorous acts punishable by death

When might treacherous be a better fit than faithless?

The meanings of treacherous and faithless largely overlap; however, treacherous implies readiness to betray trust or confidence.

a treacherous adviser

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of faithless Men are a structuring absence, as they are spoken of as faithless husbands, potential fiancés, feckless sons. John Bleasdale, Variety, 21 Nov. 2024 But, these faithless actors have never changed the outcome of an election. Solcyré Burga, TIME, 28 Oct. 2024 Since Biden is no longer in the running, they won't be considered faithless. Kaleigh Rogers, ABC News, 23 July 2024 Nellore admits to being of faithless background yet criticizes people of faith. Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 8 Mar. 2024 See All Example Sentences for faithless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for faithless
Adjective
  • Michael Fassbender plays a British intelligence officer tasked with finding who leaked a top-secret software program and betrayed their country, and the list of five potentially traitorous suspects includes his own high-profile wife (Cate Blanchett).
    Brian Truitt, USA Today, 10 May 2025
  • Smith made out their former collaborators to be ungrateful and traitorous, and the kids weren't given the space to question her command.
    Zoey Lyttle, People.com, 18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • The cooling system in her second-story apartment in Albuquerque, New Mexico, had always been unreliable.
    Ignacio Calderon, USA Today, 21 May 2025
  • This showed that changes in the truck's speed produced turbulence in the liquid helium, making measurements of its presence unreliable.
    John Timmer, ArsTechnica, 19 May 2025
Adjective
  • The temperature of online discourse can often provide a false reading of a fanbase’s opinion on a manager or a team.
    Jordan Campbell, New York Times, 19 May 2025
  • Big banks are not allowed to cheat their customers with false advertising and misleading promises.
    Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 May 2025
Adjective
  • Already, reviews are raving about Lawrence’s performance as a woman who experiences postpartum depression and develops psychosis, opposite Robert Pattinson as her unfaithful husband.
    Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 18 May 2025
  • Donald was repeatedly unfaithful and belittled his wife’s artistic side.
    Stephen Rodrick, Rolling Stone, 18 May 2025
Adjective
  • The pine trees are towering and the fairways are twisting and the bunkers are deep and treacherous.
    Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 15 May 2025
  • Maybe the seemingly long haul on I-95 made treacherous by traffic congestion creates the Miami-Dade County and Broward County division among its residents.
    Michelle F. Solomon, Miami Herald, 13 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Faithless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/faithless. Accessed 28 May. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on faithless

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