infame

See also: infâme and infamé

English

Etymology

From Latin īnfāmāre, from īnfāmis (“infamous”): compare French infamer, Italian infamare. See infamous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈfeɪm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Homophone: enfame (one pronunciation)

Verb

infame (third-person singular simple present infames, present participle infaming, simple past and past participle infamed)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To defame; to make infamous.
   • 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     sapience, hitherto obscured, infamed

   • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Empire”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:

     Livia is infamed for the poisoning of her husband.

Related terms

• osculum infame

References

• “infame”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Famine, famine, imafen

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnfāmis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [iɱˈfa.mə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [iɱˈfa.me]

Adjective

infame m or f (masculine and feminine plural infames)

1. infamous

Derived terms

• infamement

Related terms

• infàmia
• fama

French

Pronunciation

• Homophones: infament, infames

Verb

infame

1. inflection of infamer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Galician

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin īnfāmis.

Adjective

infame m or f (plural infames)

1. infamous

Related terms

• infamia

German

Pronunciation

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Adjective

infame

1. inflection of infam:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnfāmis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inˈfa.me/
• Rhymes: -ame
• Hyphenation: in‧fà‧me

Adjective

infame m or f by sense (plural infami)

1. infamous
2. vile

   Synonyms: cattivo, meschino, vile

3. (colloquial, figurative) awful, dreadful

   Synonym: pessimo

   un tempo infame ― awful weather

Noun

infame m or f by sense (plural infami)

1. villain, scoundrel
2. snitch, rat, informant or informer, traitor, turncoat

Related terms

• infamia
• fama

Latin

Adjective

īnfāme

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of īnfāmis

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnfāmis.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩˈfɐ̃.mi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩˈfɐ̃.mi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩˈfɐ.me/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩˈfɐ.mɨ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩˈfɐ.mɨ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩˈfa.mɨ/

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: in‧fa‧me

Adjective

infame m or f (plural infames)

1. infamous

Derived terms

• infamemente

Related terms

• infâmia

Further reading

• “infame”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnfāmis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inˈfame/ [ĩɱˈfa.me]
• Rhymes: -ame
• Syllabification: in‧fa‧me

Adjective

infame m or f (masculine and feminine plural infames)

1. awful, dreadful
2. infamous, vile, wicked

Derived terms

• infamemente

Related terms

• fama
• infamia

Verb

infame

1. inflection of infamar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “infame”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025