Famous or infamous?
famous is an adjective meaning “Well known”; infamous is an adjective meaning “Having a bad reputation; disreputable; notorious; unpleasant or evil; widely…”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) famous is about 12 times as common as infamous.
What is the difference between famous and infamous?
| famous | infamous | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, verb | adjective |
| Meaning | Well known In the public eye | Having a bad reputation; disreputable; notorious; unpleasant or evil; widely known, especially for something scornful Causing infamy; disgraceful |
| Example | Some people are only famous within their city | He was an infamous traitor |
| Pronunciation | /ˈfeɪ.məs/ | /ˈɪn.fə.məs/ |
| In writing | 69 times per million words | 5.6 times per million words |
Sources: famous and infamous in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of famous and infamous
famous
- 1
Well known
- 2
In the public eye
Some people are only famous within their city
- 3
Excellent
infamous
- 1
Having a bad reputation; disreputable; notorious; unpleasant or evil; widely known, especially for something scornful
He was an infamous traitor
- 2
Causing infamy; disgraceful
This infamous deed tarnishes all involved
- 3
UKSubject to a judicial punishment depriving (the person) of certain rights (e.g. the rights to hold public office, exercise the franchise, receive a public pension, serve on a jury, or give testimony…
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, famous or infamous?
famous appears 69 times per million words; infamous 5.6 times per million words.
famous 69 times per million wordsinfamous 5.6 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search famous vs infamous?
“famous vs infamous” is searched about 3,600 times a month on Google and 80 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“infamous vs famous”, “famous or infamous”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.