infamous

C1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈɪnfəməs/ See IPA manual

Freq #10888

Meanings

1

adj
Well known for being bad or evil.

He was an infamous traitor whose name still causes anger.
2

adj
Causing shame or disgrace.

This infamous deed tarnished everyone involved.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · well known for being bad or... disreputableill-famednotorious nefarious

Word family

Derived forms infamously infamousness infamy

Etymology

From Middle English enfamouse, in-fames, infamous, from Medieval Latin īnfāmōsus, from Latin īnfāmis; by surface analysis, in- + famous. Displaced native Old English unhlīsful.

enfamouse Middle English īnfāmōsus la-med īnfāmis Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# infamous

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈɪnfəməs/
**Frequency rank:** 10888

## Meanings
1. Well known for being bad or evil.
2. Causing shame or disgrace.

## Examples
- He was an infamous traitor whose name still causes anger.
- This infamous deed tarnished everyone involved.

## Derived Forms
- infamously
- infamousness
- infamy

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: enfamouse
- Root: īnfāmōsus
- Root: īnfāmis

## Etymology
From Middle English enfamouse, in-fames, infamous, from Medieval Latin īnfāmōsus, from Latin īnfāmis; by surface analysis, in- + famous. Displaced native Old English unhlīsful.

## AI Etymology
Infamous comes from Middle English enfamouse, in-fames, infamous, from Medieval Latin īnfāmōsus, from Latin īnfāmis; by surface analysis, in- + famous. Displaced native Old English unhlīsful. The historical chain includes enfamouse (Middle English), īnfāmōsus (Medieval Latin), and īnfāmis (Latin). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as infamously, infamousness, and infamy. In present use it covers well known for being bad or evil and causing shame or disgrace.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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