notorious
Americanadjective
-
widely and unfavorably known.
a notorious gambler.
-
publicly or generally known, as for a particular trait.
a newspaper that is notorious for its sensationalism.
- Synonyms:
- famous, conspicuous, prominent, celebrated, renowned, notable
adjective
-
well-known for some bad or unfavourable quality, deed, etc; infamous
-
rare generally known or widely acknowledged
Usage
What does notorious mean? Notorious most commonly means famous or well-known for a negative reason.The word is especially used to describe people who are widely known and viewed unfavorably for their actions, such as notorious criminals. It can also be applied to events, as in a notorious scandal. This sense of notorious is often used interchangeably with the word infamous. Strictly speaking, infamous means having, deserving, or resulting in a bad or evil reputation, while notorious usually implies that a person is both famous and disliked. Still, they usually mean just about the same thing.Notorious can also mean known for a particular trait or action, not necessarily a bad one. For example, you might be notorious for wearing the same outfit every Friday, or your aunt might be notorious for arriving late to family events.The state or quality of being notorious is notoriety.Example: The island prison known as Alcatraz was known for holding some of America’s most notorious criminals.
Other Word Forms
- notoriety noun
- notoriously adverb
- notoriousness noun
Etymology
Origin of notorious
First recorded in 1540–50; from Medieval Latin nōtōrius “well known, public,” from Late Latin nōtōria “a notice, news, intelligence” and nōtōrium “indictment, (criminal) charge,” equivalent to nō(scere) “to get to know” + -tōrius adjective suffix; notify, -tory 1
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.
Parking stalls, a notorious bottleneck in the town of fewer than 3,000, were open.
I understand L.A’s notorious traffic can wear on you, but this feature has no real purpose in my opinion.
In South Korea, a country notorious for its strict beauty standards, baldness comes with a stigma that can prove especially troubling for young people.
From BBC
The film was Titanic - a notorious white elephant, dismissed as a vanity project, and predicted to bring about the collapse of film studios Fox and Paramount.
From BBC
The most indebted in their efforts to build the American rail system were at the heart of the most notorious contemporary financial failures.
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.
