Love words? Need even more definitions? Ask the Editors 'Everyday' vs. What Is 'Semantic Bleaching'? How 'literally' can mean "figuratively". Literally How to use a word that literally drives some pe Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?
The awkward case of 'his or her'. Take the quiz. Our Favorite New Words How many do you know? Spell It Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words? Community Bot 1. Bill Bill 1 1 gold badge 7 7 silver badges 14 14 bronze badges. Variants of this one are always being asked.
I don't understand the question. The prefix in- means not, and meant not in Latin. Both famous and infamous are derived from Latin roots. And you are asking why famous and infamous have opposite meanings? This isn't unusual: consider discreet and indiscreet , noble and ignoble. Peter Shor: I suppose what bothers OP there is that famous and infamous both imply "well-known", either positively or negatively.
The best we can do for an "antonym" is probably non-famous , but that's not exactly in common use. I understand the Latin meaning of the 'in-' prefix meaning not, and I suppose to a certain degree it is correctly used to describe the difference between the terms 'famous' versus 'infamous'.
I was simply using 'valuable' and 'invaluable' to describe a situation where it is not used in this context. I suppose that currently in English, famous just means well-known and not well-known for good qualities the word renowned better fits this definition. However, I expect that when the in- was attached to obtain infamis in Latin, it had a meaning closer to renowned.
Show 7 more comments. Active Oldest Votes. While they can sometimes mean the same thing, there are subtle differences between the two terms. There are times when either will work, yet in other cases, one word is a better fit. Flipping a table at a family dinner may go down in infamy, winning you the reputation as the cousin with the temper. When you say notorious and its noun form notoriety , it may be clear that they both start with not- , as in note , a word indeed related to notorious.
Which makes it easier to remember that identifying someone as notorious is like putting a notice out on them. Well, they are all close in meaning due to that same Latin root , but there are subtle but significant differences among them. Head on over to our dictionary pages for notable and noteworthy for some lexical judgment on them.
Read about the history behind the two spellings for the word here. Jack Nicholson is notorious for always wearing sunglasses, a good example of the word being used without as many negative vibes implied.
But, already on the scene was another rapper, Biggy Smallz, compelling Wallace to change his moniker to The Notorious B. Dubbing yourself notorious? Talk about a money move. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.
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