infamy
in·fa·my/ˈɪnfəmi/noun
infamy is spelled I-N-F-A-M-Y: 6 letters and 3 syllables (in·fa·my). It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,504th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, infamy means “The state of being infamous” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of infamy is infamies.
How many letters and syllables are in infamy?
| Letters | 6: I-N-F-A-M-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: in·fa·my |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 34,504th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is infamy?
Infamy appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,504th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce infamy?
- /ˈɪnfəmi/
Infamy has 3 syllables, split in·fa·my in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-infamy.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of infamy
- infamies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does infamy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The state of being infamous.
December 7, 1941; November 22, 1963; and September 11, 2001. The three dates which will live in infamy.
- 2
A reprehensible occurrence or situation.
- 3
A stigma attaching to a person's character that disqualifies them from being a witness.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Infamy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the state of being infamous:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does infamy come from?
From late Middle English infamie, from Old French infamie, from Latin īnfāmia (“infamy”), from īnfāmis (“infamous”), from in- (“not”) + fāma (“fame, renown”). Displaced native Old English unhlīsa (literally “bad fame”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).