different between harmful vs infamous

English

Alternative forms

• harmfull (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English harmful, from Old English *hearmful (suggested by hearmfull?? (“harmful; hurtful”)), equivalent to harm +? -ful.

Cognate with German harmvoll, Danish harmfuld, Swedish harmfull.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?h??mfl?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?h??mfl?/

Adjective

harmful (comparative harmfuller or more harmful, superlative harmfullest or most harmful)

1. of a kind likely to be damaging; injurious

   Wear a hat to protect your skin from harmful sunlight.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "harmful" is often applied: effect, consequence, impact, influence, emission, chemical, ingredient, substance, gas, agent, additive, drug, radiation, dust, organism, plant, animal, insect, action, act, behavior, component, content, activity, interference, use.

Synonyms

• injurious; see also Thesaurus:harmful

Antonyms

• beneficial
• harmless

Translations

See also

• harm

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin infamosus, from Latin infamis. Displaced native Old English unhl?sful.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ?n?f?-m?s, IPA^(key): /??nf?m?s/

Adjective

infamous (comparative more infamous, superlative most infamous)

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

   He was an infamous traitor.

   He was an infamous perjurer.
2. Causing infamy; disgraceful.

   This infamous deed tarnishes all involved.

3. (Britain, 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.

Derived terms

• infamously
• infamousness
• infamy

Translations

References

• Oxford English Dictionary