Dictionary
Find
in
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Translations

Click to move up the list of words
familist
family
family allowance
Family and Medical Leave Act
Family Assistance
family benefit
family Bible
family circle
family court
family credit
Family Division
family doctor
family leave
family limited partnership
family man
family name
family of funds
Click to move down the list of words
Also available:

World English Dictionary
Dictionnaire Français

fame

fame [ faym ]


noun 
Definition:
 
renown: the condition of being very well known
the fame that goes with being a recording star
His only claim to fame is being married to a socialite.

[12th century. Via French< Latin fama "talk, report, reputation"]

Word Usage
fame or notoriety?

In contemporary English notoriety is correctly used to mean only "the condition of being well-known for something disgraceful or otherwise undesirable," as in a mayor whose notoriety stems from election fraud. A word with a similar meaning is infamy. Fame on the other hand is simply "the condition of being very well known," as in a governor whose fame [not notoriety] stems from his heroic service in the Korean War. The same distinction holds with the adjectives notorious (and infamous) and famous ("widely known").

Advertisement

© 2009 Microsoft