INFAMOUS

infamous, ill-famed, notorious

(adjective) known widely and usually unfavorably; “a notorious gangster”; “the tenderloin district was notorious for vice”; “the infamous Benedict Arnold”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

infamous (comparative more infamous, superlative most infamous)

Having a bad reputation, disreputable; notoriously bad, unpleasant or evil; widely known, especially for something bad.

Causing infamy; disgraceful.

(UK, historical) Subject to a judicial punishment that deprived the infamous person of certain rights; this included a prohibition against holding public office, exercising the franchise, receiving a public pension, serving on a jury, or giving testimony in a court of law.

Source: Wiktionary

In"fa*mous, a. Etym: [Pref. in- not + famous: cf. L. infamis. See Infamy.]

1. Of very bad report; having a reputation of the worst kind; held in abhorrence; guilty of something that exposes to infamy; base; notoriously vile; detestable; as, an infamous traitor; an infamous perjurer. False errant knight, infamous, and forsworn. Spenser.

2. Causing or producing infamy; deserving detestation; scandalous to the last degree; as, an infamous act; infamous vices; infamous corruption. Macaulay.

3. (Law)

Definition: Branded with infamy by conviction of a crime; as, at common law, an infamous person can not be a witness.

4. Having a bad name as being the place where an odious crime was committed, or as being associated with something detestable; hence, unlucky; perilous; dangerous. "Infamous woods." P. Fletcher. Infamous hills, and sandy perilous wilds. Milton. The piny shade More infamous by cursed Lycaon made. Dryden.

Syn.

– Detestable; odious; scandalous; disgraceful; base; vile; shameful; ignominious.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition