notorious
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
famous or well-known for something bad or negative.
widely known and commonly spoken of, specifically for an unfavourable or undesirable reason.
Simple“The city is notorious for its terrible traffic during the summer months.”
In context“The region became notorious for its unpredictable weather, which frequently disrupted the local agricultural cycle and caused significant economic losses.”
UsageOften followed by the preposition 'for' or 'as'.
PitfallHe is notorious for his good cooking. He is famous for his good cooking.Notorious is only used for negative things. Use 'famous' or 'well-known' for positive things.
Synonymsinfamousill famedAntonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
clearly known by everyone; impossible to hide.
widely acknowledged or evident; used when a fact is common knowledge, often with a neutral or slightly formal tone.
Simple“It is notorious that the two companies have been rivals for decades.”
In context“The inefficiency of the old postal system was notorious among the local merchants, who often resorted to private couriers for urgent deliveries.”
UsageUsually used as a predicative adjective after a linking verb.
Synonyms
“Thus was sparked an international murder case, one of the most notorious in Britain, later called “the crime of the century”, of which Hallie Rubenhold gives an engrossing account.”
“It turns out the previous owner was a devotee of chaos magic, inspired by the notorious Aleister Crowley, who died in a Hastings boarding house called Netherwood.”
From Late Middle English notoryous, from Medieval Latin nōtōrius (“evident, known; famous, well-known; infamous”), from Latin nōtus (“known, recognized; familiar, widely known; famous, well-known; infamous”) + -tōrius (suffix forming adjectives). Nōtus is the perfect passive participle of nōscō (“to become acquainted with or learn about (something); (rare) to be familiar with, recognize”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know; to recognize”). cognates * Catalan notori (“well-known”) * Middle French notoire (Anglo-Norman notoire, notoir, notore, notorie, modern French notoire (“notorious; well-known”)) * Italian notorio (“notorious; well-known”) * Portuguese notorjo (obsolete), notório (“illustrious; open, public; notorious”) * Spanish notorio (“apparent, clear, obvious; well-known”)
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.