Infamous

How to spell infamous

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce infamous

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does infamous mean?

1. adjectiveWell known for a bad reason, such as a crime or scandal.

Infamous in a sentence

• The infamous con artist was finally arrested after years on the run.

• That stretch of motorway is infamous for its constant delays.

Where does infamous come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin infamis, which combined the prefix in-, meaning 'not' or carrying a negative force, with fama, meaning 'fame', 'report', or 'public reputation'. The literal sense was therefore 'of ill repute' or 'without good name', describing someone whose reputation had been damaged rather than someone simply unknown. In Roman law infamia was a formal loss of legal standing and honour, so the word carried real weight. English adopted it in the late 1300s, partly through the related noun infamy, and kept the spelling close to its Latin root. A useful memory hook is that 'famous' and 'infamous' share the same fama core; infamous is just fame turned sour, and the single 'm' from fama explains why there is no double letter in the middle.

How the word is built

• in- (not, denoting bad)
• fam (from Latin fama: fame, reputation)
• -ous (full of)