infamous
Americanadjective
-
having an extremely bad reputation.
an infamous city.
- Synonyms:
- notorious, ill-famed, disreputable
- Antonyms:
- reputable
-
deserving of or causing an evil reputation; shamefully malign; detestable.
an infamous deed.
- Synonyms:
- villainous, heinous, base, vile, shocking, wicked, odious, nefarious, scandalous, disgraceful
- Antonyms:
- admirable, praiseworthy
-
Law.
-
deprived of certain rights as a citizen, as a consequence of conviction of certain offenses.
-
of or relating to offenses involving such deprivation.
-
adjective
-
having a bad reputation; notorious
-
causing or deserving a bad reputation; shocking
infamous conduct
-
criminal law
-
(of a person) deprived of certain rights of citizenship on conviction of certain offences
-
(of a crime or punishment) entailing such deprivation
-
Usage
What does infamous mean? Infamous means having, deserving, or resulting in a bad or evil reputation. The word is typically used to describe people, actions, and events. It’s especially used in the context of violent crimes, scandals, and tragedies. Infamous is often used interchangeably with the word notorious, which most commonly means famous or well-known for a negative reason. But infamous is also sometimes used in a more general way to describe things, such as behavior, as shameful, shocking, detestable, vile, heinous, or scandalous. The state of quality of being infamous is infamy. Example: The infamous bank robber was known for setting fire to the crime scene while making his escape.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of infamous
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin infām(is) ( see infamy) + -ous
Explanation
Someone who is infamous has a very bad reputation. If you become a Hollywood star and find yourself on the pages of gossip magazines for your affairs and addictions, you will have succeeded in becoming infamous. Infamous is from Latin infamis, for negative fame. If you're bad but unknown, then you're not infamous — it's reserved for those wicked and well-known people that capture our collective imagination. It is a strong and resonant term. Some synonyms are notorious, disgraceful, and odious. The stress is on the first syllable.
Vocabulary lists containing infamous
The Bill of Rights
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"Beowulf," Vocabulary from the epic poem
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Grade 9, List 5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When he asked Anthropic’s coding tool to take a crack at the infamous Riemann hypothesis, Jarred Sumner had no idea how much progress it would make on the 167-year-old conjecture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
The signs are all around that Wall Street is back in that dangerous atmosphere of giddy euphoria that those with long memories will remember from the infamous dot-com bubble of the late 1990s.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
But in the infamous case of Dred Scott v.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
Inside Billy’s private movie theater, the projector beams down on the back of Anderson’s head like that infamous Nicole Kidman AMC promo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
I might not know where the harbor was that held the infamous ships of the British East India Company, but they sure did.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
