infamy

Infamy is the state of having a bad or evil reputation—the state of being infamous.

The adjective infamous means having, deserving, or resulting in a bad or evil reputation. It’s typically used to describe people, actions, and events. It’s especially used in the context of violent crimes, scandals, and tragedies.

Infamous is also sometimes used in a more general way to describe things, such as behavior, as shocking, detestable, vile, heinous, or scandalous.

Infamy can mean infamous behavior, or it can mean the condemnation resulting from such behavior. Sometimes, it means about the same thing as shame or disgrace.

Infamy is often used interchangeably with the word notoriety, which is the state or quality of being notorious—famous or well-known for a negative reason. But while notoriety can be used in a more neutral way to mean about the same thing as fame, infamy is always used negatively and usually involves a bad reputation.

Example: Their heinous crimes will live in infamy.

The first records of the word infamy come from the 1400s. It comes from the Latin infām(is), meaning “ill-famed” or “of evil repute.” At the root of infamy is the Latin fāma, which means “fame” and is also the basis of that word.

Infamy implies a sense of enduring fame—and not for something good. When a person is labeled as infamous, it usually means that they have done something (usually something very bad) to bring them infamy—an extremely bad reputation.

Perhaps the most famous use of the word is from President Franklin Roosevelt’s address following the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor naval base on December 7, 1941, which he called “a date which will live in infamy.”

What are some other forms related to infamy?

• infamous (adjective)

What are some synonyms for infamy?

• notoriety
• disrepute
• shame
• disgrace

What are some words that share a root or word element with infamy? 

• fame
• famous

What are some words that often get used in discussing infamy?

• live
• date
• bad
• reputation
• criminal
• crime
• scandal

Infamy is always used negatively. It’s usually used in the context of crime or serious wrongdoing, unless it’s being used ironically.

"Yesterday, December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." – FDR #PearlHarbor78 pic.twitter.com/M310zyLhyT

— Janine Stange (@THEANTHEMGIRL) December 8, 2019

Louis Wolf has died at 94. Once called Chicago’s “worst landlord,” he gained infamy for two stints behind bars — first for torching an occupied tenement in order to claim insurance money, and then for skipping out on more than $550,000 in property taxes. https://t.co/3bKYJNYY0u pic.twitter.com/62CV3hpLOW

— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) October 23, 2018

BREAKING: A full 3 YEARS after launching its grotesque family-separation policy, the Trump Administration STILL cannot locate the parents of 545 children; around 2/3 of those parents were deported to C. America.

The perpetrators will live in infamy. https://t.co/n7uw7G82B0

— Gregory A. Maniatis (@gmaniatis) October 20, 2020

Is infamy used correctly in the following sentence?

The author gained infamy for her extremely controversial novel.