notorious

Intermediatezipf 3.83

Pronunciation

/nəʊˈtɔːriəs/(noh-TOR-ee-us)

Part of speech

adjectiveneutral

Chinese

臭名昭著的；声名狼藉的（因坏事而出名）

Definition

Famous or well-known for something bad.

Word family

  • notoriety/ˌnəʊtəˈraɪəti/(n)恶名
  • notoriously/nəʊˈtɔːriəsli/(adv)众所周知地（贬义）

Collocations

  • notorious criminal
  • notorious for
  • notoriously difficult
  • gain notoriety

Examples

  1. 1.The city is notorious for its traffic jams. (known for bad thing)
  2. 2.He gained notoriety as one of the most wanted hackers. (infamous)

Synonyms

  • infamous/ˈɪnfəməs/— famous for evil deeds
  • disreputable/dɪsˈrɛpjʊtəbl/— lacking respectability
  • scandalous/ˈskændələs/— causing public outrage

Etymology

from Latin "notorius" = well known — but shifted to negative connotation over time