Adjacent Words

Infamous definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

IN'FAMOUS, a. [L. infamis; infamo, to defame; in and fama, fame.]
1. Of ill report, emphatically; having a reputation of the worst kind; publicly branded with odium for vice of guilt; base; scandalous; notoriously vile; used of persons; as an infamous liar; an infamous rake or gambler.
2. Odious; detestable; held in abhorrence; that renders a person infamous rake or gambler.
3. Branded with infamy by conviction of a crime. An infamous person cannot be a witness.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: known widely and usually unfavorably; "a notorious gangster"; "the tenderloin district was notorious for vice"; "the infamous Benedict Arnold"; [syn: ill-famed, infamous, notorious]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Latin infamis, from in- + fama fame Date: 14th century 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 • infamously adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 notoriously bad; having a bad reputation. 2 abominable. 3 (in ancient law) deprived of all or some rights of a citizen on account of serious crime. Derivatives: infamously adv. infamy n. (pl. -ies). Etymology: ME f. med.L infamosus f. L infamis (as IN-(1), FAME)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Infamous In"fa*mous, a. [Pref. in- not + famous: cf. L. infamis. See Infamy.] 1. Of very bad report; having a reputation of the worst kind; held in abhorrence; guilty of something that exposes to infamy; base; notoriously vile; detestable; as, an infamous traitor; an infamous perjurer. False errant knight, infamous, and forsworn. --Spenser. 2. Causing or producing infamy; deserving detestation; scandalous to the last degree; as, an infamous act; infamous vices; infamous corruption. --Macaulay. 3. (Law) Branded with infamy by conviction of a crime; as, at common law, an infamous person can not be a witness. 4. Having a bad name as being the place where an odious crime was committed, or as being associated with something detestable; hence, unlucky; perilous; dangerous. ``Infamous woods.'' --P. Fletcher. Infamous hills, and sandy perilous wilds. --Milton. The piny shade More infamous by cursed Lycaon made. --Dryden. Syn: Detestable; odious; scandalous; disgraceful; base; vile; shameful; ignominious.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Infamous people or things are well-known because of something bad. (FORMAL) He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes. = notorious ADJ: usu ADJ n, also v-link ADJ for n, v-link ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Disreputable, of ill repute, ill spoken of. 2. Disgraceful, dishonorable, shameful, shameless, odious, detestable, scandalous, outrageous, ignominious, base, vile, nefarious, villanous, heinous, atrocious, wicked, dark, damnable.

Moby Thesaurus

aberrant, abhorrent, abnormal, abominable, arrant, atrocious, awful, bad, base, beastly, beneath contempt, black, blackguardly, blamable, blameworthy, brutal, contemptible, corrupt, criminal, damnable, dark, degenerate, degraded, delinquent, deplorable, derogatory, despicable, detestable, deviant, dire, discreditable, disgraceful, disgusting, dishonorable, disreputable, dreadful, egregious, enormous, evil, execrable, fetid, filthy, flagitious, flagrant, foul, fulsome, grievous, gross, hardly the thing, hateful, heinous, horrible, horrid, ignoble, ignominious, illegal, improper, inappropriate, incorrect, indecorous, inglorious, iniquitous, knavish, lamentable, loathsome, lousy, low, miscreant, monstrous, nasty, naughty, nefarious, noisome, not done, not the thing, notorious, obnoxious, odious, off-base, off-color, offensive, opprobrious, out-of-line, outrageous, peccant, perverse, pitiable, pitiful, rank, rascally, recreant, regrettable, reprehensible, reprobate, repulsive, revolting, roguish, rotten, sacrilegious, sad, scampish, scandalous, schlock, scoundrelly, scurvy, seamy, shabby, shady, shameful, shameless, shocking, shoddy, sinful, sordid, sorry, squalid, stigmatized, terrible, too bad, unclean, undue, unfit, unfitting, unforgivable, unhealthy, unlawful, unpardonable, unpraiseworthy, unrespectable, unrighteous, unsavory, unseemly, unspeakable, unsuitable, unworthy, vicious, vile, villainous, wicked, woeful, worst, worthless, wretched, wrong, wrongful