infamy

English

Etymology

From late Middle English infamie, from Old French infamie, from Latin īnfāmia (“infamy”), from īnfāmis (“infamous”), from in- (“not”) + fāma (“fame, renown”). Displaced native Old English unhlīsa (literally “bad fame”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪnfəmi/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: in‧fa‧my

Noun

infamy (countable and uncountable, plural infamies)

1. The state of being infamous.
   1. The state of having a reputation as being evil.
      • 1941 December 8, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Day of Infamy Speech‎^[1]:

        Yesterday, December seventh, 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.

2. A reprehensible occurrence or situation.
   • 1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 8, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 251:

     All for a pig of a man who should have gone to the chair. It is an infamy that he did not.

3. (law) A stigma attaching to a person's character that disqualifies them from being a witness.

Related terms

• fame
• infamous

Translations

the state of being infamous

• Belarusian: га́ньба f (hánʹba), нясла́ва f (njasláva)
• Bulgarian: позо́р (bg) m (pozór), безче́стие (bg) n (bezčéstie)
• Catalan: infàmia (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 罵名／骂名 (zh) (màmíng), 污名 (wūmíng)

• Dutch: schande (nl) f
• Esperanto: fifamo
• Faroese: æruloysi n
• Finnish: pahamaineisuus (fi), häpeällisyys
• French: infamie (fr) ?
• Galician: infamia (gl) f
• German: Schande (de) f
• Italian: infamia (it) f
• Japanese: 汚名 (ja) (おめい, omei), 不名誉 (ja) (ふめいよ, fumeiyo), 悪名 (ja) (あくめい, akumei, あくみょう, akumyō)
• Korean: 오명 (ko) (omyeong), 불명예 (bulmyeong'ye), 악명 (ko) (angmyeong)
• Latin: īnfāmia f
• Macedonian: зло́гласност f (zlóglasnost)
• Manx: anghoo m
• Norwegian: beryktethet m
• Old English: unhlīsa m
• Polish: niesława (pl) f, infamia (pl) f
• Portuguese: infâmia (pt) f
• Romanian: infamie (ro) f
• Russian: бессла́вие (ru) n (besslávije), позо́р (ru) m (pozór), дурна́я сла́ва f (durnája sláva), бесче́стие (ru) n (besčéstije)
• Sanskrit: कुख्याति (sa) f (kukhyāti), अकीर्ति (sa) f (akīrti)
• Spanish: infamia (es) f
• Swedish: vanära (sv) c, vanrykte n, vanfrejd (sv) c, äreslöshet c
• Telugu: అపకీర్తి (te) (apakīrti)
• Ukrainian: ганьба́ (uk) f (hanʹbá), несла́ва f (nesláva)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Estonian: ^{(please verify)} kurikuulus