1 Well known for some bad quality or deed. ‘an infamous war criminal’ ‘The infamous London smog is an example of extreme air pollution.’ ‘Made famous, or rather infamous, by Shakespeare, Richard is put ‘on trial’ for murdering two of his nephews.’.
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a 16c. merger of two Middle English words, with the form of infamous 'not well-known' (early 15c.) and the sense of infamis (late 14c.), 'of ill repute, famous for badness.' Infamous is from Medieval Latin infamosus, from in- 'not, opposite of' (see in- (1)) + Latin famosus 'celebrated' (see famous). Infamis is from Latin infamis 'of ill fame' (see infamy).
Meaning 'causing infamy' is from 1550s. As a legal term, 'disqualified from certain rights of citizens because of conviction for certain crimes' (late 14c.). The neutral fameless (in the sense original to infamous) is recorded from 1590s. Related: Infamously.
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