faith
1 Americannoun
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faiths
plural
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confidence or trust in a person or thing.
faith in another's ability.
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belief that is not based on proof.
He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.
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belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion.
the firm faith of the Pilgrims.
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belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc..
to be of the same faith with someone concerning honesty.
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a system of religious belief.
the Christian faith;
the Jewish faith.
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the obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise, engagement, etc..
Failure to appear would be breaking faith.
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the observance of this obligation; fidelity to one's promise, oath, allegiance, etc..
He was the only one who proved his faith during our recent troubles.
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Christian Theology. the trust in God and in His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans are justified or saved.
idioms
noun
noun
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strong or unshakeable belief in something, esp without proof or evidence
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a specific system of religious beliefs
the Jewish faith
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Christianity trust in God and in his actions and promises
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a conviction of the truth of certain doctrines of religion, esp when this is not based on reason
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complete confidence or trust in a person, remedy, etc
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any set of firmly held principles or beliefs
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allegiance or loyalty, as to a person or cause (esp in the phrases keep faith , break faith )
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insincerity or dishonesty
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honesty or sincerity, as of intention in business (esp in the phrase in good faith )
interjection
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of faith
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English feith, from Anglo-French fed, Old French feid, feit, from Latin fidem, accusative of fidēs “trust,” derivative of fīdere “to trust”; see confide
Explanation
When you have faith, you trust or believe in something very strongly. Some people have faith in a higher being, others put their faith behind the Red Sox. This noun comes from the Old French word feid, meaning “faith, belief, trust, confidence, pledge.” It's often used when describing religion or the supernatural: people have faith in God, or actually refer to the religion they practice as their faith. Some choose to have the same amount of faith in a good friend or a well written recipe — anything that will come through for them in a time of need.
Vocabulary lists containing faith
The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 6
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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.
See Examples For:
It comes after years of pressure from both within and outside the faith, but that is not how leaders of the faith describe the decision.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026
It is extremely difficult to say how many Jehovah's Witnesses, among the estimated nine million followers of the faith worldwide, died each year having refused treatment involving blood transfusions.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026
"How can you have faith in these measures that they're putting in to mitigate future disasters if you don't know fully what happened the first time around?" she said.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Catholics, along with people of all faith traditions, must be vigilant.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
“The faith of my own people. Do you know Mani? No? He’s doing some very interesting things on the subject of fire, but it’s Zoroaster all the way for me. Nice to meet you, brothers.”
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
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According to lead researcher Associate Professor Faith Kwa of Swinburne University, children account for a large proportion of those affected, yet no treatments specifically approved for pediatric patients are currently available.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026
Faith in the artificial-intelligence trade is faltering, but one analyst sees reasons to remain upbeat.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
“It feels very urgent this year,” said Moore, the voting rights organizer for the Arizona Faith Network, a coalition of religious groups.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
He went on to enjoy solo success with hits such as Faith, Careless Whisper, Father Figure, Outside and Fastlove.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
It felt like a long while before Faith reached over and threaded her fingers through mine.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
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"An example of the 'perfectly normal' coexistence" between the two faiths is "the Bolsonaro family," Pastor Gustavo Knauer told AFP, noting that unlike Flavio, Jair is Catholic.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
Falafel and hummus, with varying recipes and consistencies, flow freely across countries of several faiths and backgrounds, while pizza bagels are a frozen food staple and challah French toast is seemingly everywhere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
McLoughlin said Sylvia Merrigan helped her organise the event and it brought communities and people from different faiths and backgrounds together.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
This includes excluding other major faiths including Judaism, one of the foundational belief systems of the traditional Christian faith.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026
People don’t know that Islam is one of the three Abrahamic faiths, Christianity and Judaism being the other two.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.