Notorious Meaning

/nə(ʊ)ˈtɔː.ɹɪ.əs/
B2

Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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adjSenses with an unfavourable connotation.

adjSenses with an unfavourable connotation., Of a person or entity: generally or widely known for something negative; infamous.

Ms. Eichler had a notorious reputation for being austere to her students.
The notorious rebel was ultimately captured and confined to jail.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ thief was known for stealing from every house in the town.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
This particular stretch of road is ____ for its sharp curves and lack of lighting.

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”)

"Such Men theſe had, to Miſchiefe vvholly bent, / In Villanie, notorious for their skill, / Diſhoneſt, deſp'rate, mercileſſe, and rude, / That dar'd into Damnation to intrude." — 1630, Michael Drayton, Poems: […], London: […] Willi[am] Stansby for Iohn Smethwicke, →OCLC, stanza 28, page 109:
"You notorious ſtinkardly bearevvard, do's my breath ſmell?" — 1609 December (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Epicoene, or The Silent Woman. A Comœdie. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, Act IV, scene ii, page 570:
"But Rutilus, is ſo Notorious grovvn, / That he's the common Theme of all the Tovvn." — 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, William Congreve, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Eleventh Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 219, lines 9–10:
"A vvoman of quality, notorious for her gallantries, though as ſhe ſtill lived vvith her huſband, nobody choſe to place her in the claſs vvhere ſhe ought to have been placed, […]" — 1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, “Morality Undermined by Sexual Notions of the Importance of a Good Reputation”, in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, 1st American edition, Boston, Mass.: […] Peter Edes for Thomas and Andrews, […], published 1792, →OCLC, page 232:
"Then he had gone to Oxford, had entered himself at Magdalene, and had soon become notorious there for every kind of vice." — 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter VIII, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume II, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 290:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ thief was known for stealing from every house in the town.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
This particular stretch of road is ____ for its sharp curves and lack of lighting.

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