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Notorious most commonly means famous or well-known for a negative reason.

The word is especially used to describe people who are widely known and viewed unfavorably for their actions, such as notorious criminals. It can also be applied to events, as in a notorious scandal.��

This sense of notorious is often used interchangeably with the word infamous. Strictly speaking, infamous means having, deserving, or resulting in a bad or evil reputation, while notorious usually implies that a person is both famous and disliked. Still, they usually mean just about the same thing.

Notorious can also mean known for a particular trait or action, not necessarily a bad one. For example, you might be notorious for wearing the same outfit every Friday, or your aunt might be notorious for arriving late to family events.

The state or quality of being notorious is notoriety.

Example: The island prison known as Alcatraz was known for holding some of America’s most notorious criminals.

The first records of the word notorious come from the mid-1500s. It comes from the Medieval Latin word ��ō��ō�����ܲ�, meaning “well-known” or “public,” from the Late Latin ��ō��ō������, meaning “news” or “a notice,” and ��ō��ō�����ܳ�, “a criminal charge.” It’s ultimately rooted in the Latin verb ��ō���������, “to know.”

Notorious people are known for something specific, and it’s usually not something good. Often, the worse the thing is, the more notorious the person is. That’s why the word is most closely associated with violent criminals whose crimes are widely known.

Still, the word isn’t always used in a completely negative way. Among the people who know you, you can be notorious for something neutral or something that’s only slightly bad, like being notorious for pulling pranks or not washing your dishes.

In popular culture, notorious is known for its use in the stage name of rapper The Notorious B.I.G. (a.k.a. Christopher Wallace), which later inspired a nickname for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg based on her initials: The Notorious R.B.G.

What are some other forms related to notorious?

• notoriously (adverb)
• notoriousness (noun)
• notoriety (noun)

What are some synonyms for notorious?

• infamous
• ill-famed
• disreputable
• well-known

What are some words that share a root or word element with notorious?��

• know
• notify

What are some words that often get used in discussing notorious?

• criminal
• crime
• killer
• prison
• murder
• famous
• reputation

Notorious is most commonly used in a negative way, but it can also be used to describe someone as well-known for a particular trait, not necessarily a bad one.

The Federal prison on Alcatraz Island closed on this day in 1963. For two decades, Alcatraz was used to house some of America's most notorious criminals, including Al Capone, George R "Machine Gun" Kelly and Alvin Karpis.

— NYT Archives (@NYTArchives)

Two very different candidates – one a low-key public servant, one a businessman-turned-congressman (notorious for assaulting a reporter) – want to be Montana's governor. I wrote about the only tossup governor's race in the US and politics in the Trump era.

— Kathleen McLaughlin (@kemc)

When two different managers text to see if you're awake for an 8 AM meeting because you're notorious for oversleeping

— Kylie Kall (@kyliekall)

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True or False?

Notorious can be used interchangeably with the word infamous.