different between faithful vs faithless

English

Alternative forms

• faithfull (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English feithful, equivalent to faith +? -ful.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fe??.f?l/

Adjective

faithful (comparative faithfuler or more faithful, superlative faithfulest or most faithful)

1. Loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause.

2. Having faith.
   • 2009, Paul Lakeland, Church: Living Communion (page 162)

     The application of the old discipline, say the conservatives, would probably produce a smaller but more faithful Church.

3. Reliable; worthy of trust.

4. Consistent with reality.

5. Engaging in sexual relations only with one's spouse or long-term sexual partner.
   • 1976, "Missouri Breakers"[1]

     She wanted to be free to explore casual affairs, but her man had to be faithful .

6. (mathematics) Injective in specific contexts, e.g. of representations in representation or functors in category theory.

Derived terms

• faithfully
• faithfulness

Translations

See also

• go to the wall for someone
• stand by
• true

Noun

faithful (plural faithfuls)

1. (in the plural) The practicing members of a religion or followers of a cause.

2. Someone or something that is faithful or reliable.

English

Etymology

From Middle English feithles, equivalent to faith +? -less.

Adjective

faithless (comparative more faithless, superlative most faithless)

1. Lacking faith; lacking belief in something.
2. Not believing in God, religion, or a comparable ideology.
3. Unfaithful (said of people, towards their partners)
   • 1996, Frederick Ahl, Hanna Roisman, The Odyssey re-formed, p. 283:

     Menelaus, who fought to recover his faithless wife, has clearly rooted himself in Sparta for the remainder of his life […]

4. Not observant of promises or covenants.
5. Not true to allegiance, duty, or vows

   Synonyms: perfidious, treacherous, disloyal

6. Serving to disappoint or deceive

   Synonyms: delusive, unsatisfying

Derived terms

• faithless elector
• faithlessly
• faithlessness

Anagrams

• flashiest, stalefish