# notorious

> English word · Adjective · IPA /nə(ʊ)ˈtɔː.ɹɪ.əs/ · frequency rank #9,218

## Definitions
1. Senses with an unfavourable connotation.
2. Senses with an unfavourable connotation.
3. Senses with a favourable or neutral connotation.
4. Senses with a favourable or neutral connotation.
5. Senses with a favourable or neutral connotation.

## Etymology
From Late Middle English notoryous, from Medieval Latin nōtōrius (“evident, known; famous, well-known; infamous”), from Latin nōtus (“known, recognized; familiar, widely known; famous, well-known; infamous”) + -tōrius (suffix forming adjectives). Nōtus is the perfect passive participle of nōscō (“to become acquainted with or learn about (something); (rare) to be familiar with, recognize”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know; to recognize”).
cognates
* Catalan notori (“well-known”)
* Middle French notoire (Anglo-Norman notoire, notoir, notore, notorie, modern French notoire (“notorious; well-known”))
* Italian notorio (“notorious; well-known”)
* Portuguese notorjo (obsolete), notório (“illustrious; open, public; notorious”)
* Spanish notorio (“apparent, clear, obvious; well-known”)

## Easily confused with
- **notoriously** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/notorious-vs-notoriously)

## Common misspellings (12)
`nnotorious`, `nootrious`, `notoirous`, `notoriosu`, `notoriouss`, `notoriuos`, `notoroius`, `notorrious`, `notroious`, `nottorious`, `ntoorious`, `ontorious`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/notorious