fealty
Americannoun
plural
fealties-
History/Historical.
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fidelity to a lord.
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the obligation or the engagement to be faithful to a lord, usually sworn to by a vassal.
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noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fealty
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English feute, feaute, fealtye, from Anglo-French, Old French feauté, fealté, from Latin fidēlitāt- (stem of fidēlitās ) fidelity; internal -au-, -al- from feal, reshaping (by substitution of -al- -al 1 ) of fe(d)eil, from Latin fidēlis
Explanation
The noun fealty is another way of saying "loyalty" or "faithfulness." Your sister will allow you to join the secret club meetings in her treehouse only if you first promise fealty to the other members. Some school kids pledge their fealty, or allegiance, to the United States of America every morning in homeroom. But if you think fealty sounds like a word King Arthur would use, you're right: It's really an outdated term that primarily describes a vassal's sworn allegiance to a feudal lord. Fealty, like the word fidelity derives from the Latin root "fidelitas."
Vocabulary lists containing fealty
Freak the Mighty
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 8
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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.
But Europeans are increasingly concerned that displays of praise and fealty aren’t working.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 18, 2026
Again, the public should have heard more of this outrageous display of fealty, but it got very little coverage.
From Salon • Dec. 5, 2025
Is it Gloria Swanson’s Norma Desmond, the obscenely wealthy-but-faded star obsessed with comebacks and raining contempt on anyone who doesn’t approach her with abject fealty and admiration?
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 7, 2025
For decades these animals – lions, tigers, pumas, cheetahs and jaguars – have been a sign of power, status and even political fealty in the country.
From BBC • Jul. 22, 2025
Karna, in return, had pledged Duryodhana eternal fealty.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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.
