faithful

[feyth-fuhl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR faithful ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

strict or thorough in the performance of duty: a faithful worker.

true to one's word, promises, vows, etc.

steady in allegiance or affection; loyal; constant: faithful friends.

reliable, trusted, or believed.

adhering or true to fact, a standard, or an original; accurate: a faithful account; a faithful copy.

Obsolete. full of faith; believing.

noun

the faithful,

the believers, especially members of a Christian church or adherents of Islam.
the body of loyal members of any party or group.

Origin of faithful

First recorded in 1250–1300, faithful is from the Middle English word feithful. See faith, -ful

Related formsfaith·ful·ly, adverbfaith·ful·ness, nouno·ver·faith·ful, adjectiveo·ver·faith·ful·ly, adverbo·ver·faith·ful·ness, nounpseu·do·faith·ful, adjectivepseu·do·faith·ful·ly, adverbqua·si-faith·ful, adjectivequa·si-faith·ful·ly, adverb

Synonyms for faithful

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR faithful ON THESAURUS.COM

1, 3. true, devoted, staunch. 3. Faithful, constant, loyal imply qualities of stability, dependability, and devotion. Faithful implies long-continued and steadfast fidelity to whatever one is bound to by a pledge, duty, or obligation: a faithful friend. Constant suggests firmness and steadfastness in attachment: a constant affection. Loyal implies unswerving allegiance to a person, organization, cause, or idea: loyal to one's associates, one's country. 5. precise, exact.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for faithfulness

adherence, fidelity, fealty, allegiance, duty, constancy, piety, ardor, loyalty, adhesion, attachment, truth, care, dependability, trustworthiness

Examples from the Web for faithfulness

Contemporary Examples of faithfulness

And this mix of intellectualism and faithfulness is filling an unmet need among students on many of these campuses.
Can Christians Still Go to Harvard?
Kirsten Powers, Jonathan Merritt
October 12, 2014
God does not want a house built by man,” he said, “but faithfulness to His word, to His plan.
Pope Francis Puts a Ring on It: Video of the Inauguration
The Daily Beast Video
March 19, 2013
He goes to his death as a final act of faithfulness to the party for which he committed his own crimes.
David's Book Club: Darkness At Noon
David Frum
August 26, 2012
Martyrs, Daniel promised, would be rewarded for their faithfulness in a special way.
How Jews Invented Heaven
Lisa Miller
March 28, 2010
Martyrs, he promised, would be rewarded for their faithfulness in a special way.
How Jews Invented Heaven
Lisa Miller
March 28, 2010

Historical Examples of faithfulness

We should help him to retain their affection and faithfulness.
An Explanation of Luther's Small Catechism
Joseph Stump
From your day down to this, the world has been the better for your faithfulness.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VI (of VII)
John Greenleaf Whittier
Faithfulness was the only virtue he required of Hieronymus Andreae.
Albert Durer
T. Sturge Moore
But there was his faithfulness, and he went back to be betrayed yet a third time.
White Fang
Jack London
This faithfulness was a quality of the clay that composed him.
White Fang
Jack London

British Dictionary definitions for faithfulness

faithful

adjective

having faith; remaining true, constant, or loyal

maintaining sexual loyalty to one's lover or spouse

consistently reliablea faithful worker

reliable or truthfula faithful source

accurate in detaila faithful translation

noun

the faithful

the believers in and loyal adherents of a religious faith, esp Christianity
any group of loyal and steadfast followers

Derived Formsfaithfully, adverbfaithfulness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for faithfulness

faithful

adj.

c.1300, "full of faith," also "firm in allegiance," from faith + -ful. Meaning "true to the facts" is from 1520s. The noun sense of "true believers" is from 1550s. Related: Faithfully; faithfulness. Old Faithful geyser named 1870 by explorer Gen. H.D. Washburn, Surveyor-General of the Montana Territory, in reference to the regularity of its outbursts.