different between contumely vs infamy

English

Etymology

From Old French contumelie, from Latin contum?lia (“insult”), perhaps from com- + tume? (“swell”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?k?ntju?m?li/

Noun

contumely (countable and uncountable, plural contumelies)

1. Offensive and abusive language or behaviour; scorn, insult.

   • For who would beare the Whips and Scornes of time, The Oppressors wrong, the poore mans Contumely [...]

   • 1857, Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers, Volume the Second, page 19 ?ISBN

     She had been subjected to contumely and cross-questoning and ill-usage through the whole evening.

   • 1953, James Strachey, translating Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, Avon Books, p. 178:

     If this picture of the two psychical agencies and their relation to the consciousness is accepted, there is a complete analogy in political life to the extraordinary affection which I felt in my dream for my friend R., who was treated with such contumely during the dream's interpretation.

Related terms

• contumacious
• contumaciously
• contumaciousness
• contumacy
• contumelious

Translations

Further reading

• “contumely”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

English

Etymology

From late Middle English infamie, from Old French infamie, from Latin ?nf?mia (“infamy”), from ?nf?mis (“infamous”), from in- (“not”) + f?ma (“fame, renown”). Displaced native Old English unhl?sa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??nf?mi/
• Hyphenation: in?fa?my

Noun

infamy (countable and uncountable, plural infamies)

1. The state of being infamous.
2. A reputation as being evil.
   • December 8, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Infamy Speech, [1]

     Yesterday, December seventh, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

3. A reprehensible occurrence or situation.
4. (law) A stigma attaching to a person's character that disqualifies them from being a witness.

Related terms

• fame
• infamous

Translations