Usage
What does notoriety mean? Notoriety is the state or quality of being famous or well-known, especially for a negative reason. If often means the state or quality of being notorious, which 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. A noun form of infamous, infamy, is often used interchangeably with notoriety. Notorious can also mean known for a particular trait or action, not necessarily a bad one, as in My aunt is notorious for arriving late to family events. Notoriety can refer to the state of being known in this way. In some cases, it can mean much the same thing as fame, and in fact the two words are often used side by side, as in It’s unbelievable what some people will do for fame and notoriety. Notoriety is often discussed as being earned, gained, or achieved, as in The company gained notoriety for its irreverent marketing campaigns. Example: He gained notoriety for his role in the scandal, and his reputation has never recovered.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of notoriety
1585–95; < Medieval Latin nōtōrietās, equivalent to nōtōri ( us ) notorious + -etās, variant (after -i- ) of -ity
Explanation
Notoriety is fame you get from doing something bad or being part of a misfortune or scandal. Just remember: Notoriety's not al-righty. Charles Manson earned notoriety for his grisly crimes. In our celebrity culture, it's hard not to think that seizing your 15 minutes of fame is worth the shame of earning it through stupidity, scandal, or evil. (See: people's motives for going on reality television.) We ordinary mortals can comfort ourselves with the knowledge that most people who become notorious fade from the public mind quickly.
Vocabulary lists containing notoriety
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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:
Controversies such as a 2002 autopsy performed in London -- on camera and before an audience —- further fuelled his notoriety.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
It’s being remade with Margaret Qualley and the main reason for the movie’s notoriety remains Isabelle Adjani’s unhinged, incantatory performance, a collection of freak-outs that’s still unmatched.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Conditions there have prompted outcry from rights groups, and UN experts have condemned it as a site of "unparalleled notoriety."
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
Her voice is gleeful and unapologetic, right from the opening paragraph, written at the height of her notoriety: “I am totally cashing in to capitalize on the moment.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
For his part, Albus had arrived at Hogwarts under the burden of unwanted notoriety.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
We have arrived here at an opportune moment,—time to see all the notorieties of the place at the races, which began to-day.
From The Dodd Family Abroad, Vol. II by Lever, Charles James
Oh, we make a specialty of articles from notorieties over there; statesmen, scientific fellows, or people with titles.
From Frances Waldeaux by Davis, Rebecca Harding
This is a season in which so many notorieties come through that I have dreaded being away.
From Charles Lever, His Life in His Letters, Vol. I by Downey, Edmund
But evidently success in these cases was due to the exceptional and fortunate fact that the fixed notorieties of history were combined with a strange and mysterious geography.
From The Epic An Essay by Abercrombie, Lascelles
Now, she has added to her store of knowledge a great number of first impressions of London notorieties, which naturally throw her mind and Mrs. Stuart's more frequently into contact with each other.
From Miss Bretherton by Ward, Humphry, Mrs.
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.
