notorious

\noʊ.ˈtɔɹ.i.əs\

/\noʊ.ˈtɔɹ.i.əs\/ adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“notorious” is an uncommon French word, ranked #87,890 in French word frequency and used as an adjective.

#87,890
frequency rank, French
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Ayant mauvaise réputation. Infâme.

Key facts for notorious
PropertyValue
Headwordnotorious
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\noʊ.ˈtɔɹ.i.əs\
Letters9
Frequency rank#87,890
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “notorious” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). notorious lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for notorious is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \noʊ.ˈtɔɹ.i.əs\. Corpus data places it at rank #87,890 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Ayant mauvaise réputation. Infâme.".

notorious doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is notorious, spelled N-O-T-O-R-I-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Ayant mauvaise réputation. Infâme.

Synonyms

infamous

Antonyms

famous

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "notorious"?
"notorious" is spelled N-O-T-O-R-I-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is \noʊ.ˈtɔɹ.i.əs\.
What does "notorious" mean?
As an adjective, "notorious" means: Ayant mauvaise réputation. Infâme.
How do you pronounce "notorious"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "notorious" is \noʊ.ˈtɔɹ.i.əs\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "notorious" come from?
"notorious" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “notorious”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is N-O-T-O-R-I-O-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \noʊ.ˈtɔɹ.i.əs\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list