Dictionary

perfidious en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /pɚˈfɪdi.əs/ (US)
• /pəˈfɪdi.əs/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Italic *per Latin per Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ-der. Latin fidēs Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Italic *-os Archaic Latin -os Latin -us Latin perfidus Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Latin perfidia Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.? Proto-Italic *-ŏ̄dsos? Old Latin -ōssus Latin -ōsus Latin perfidiōsusbor. English perfidious From Latin perfidiōsus (“treacherous”), from perfidia. By surface analysis, perfidy + -ous.

Meanings

1. Of, pertaining to, or representing perfidy; disloyal to what should command one's fidelity or allegiance.
   • When the Nazis branded Feininger a "degenerate artist" in 1937, he left 54 paintings for safekeeping with a Bauhaus friend named Hermann Klumpp. After the war, and for the rest of Feininger's life, the perfidious Klumpp refused to give them back. 2005 June 21, “Art: The Velocipede of Modernism”, in Time, archived from the original on 12 Nov 2011:
   • Enraged, the 2010 Nobel literature laureate thundered that he was “flabbergasted to learn that this kind of gossip can find its way into a respectable publication such as the Book Review” - a “slanderous and perfidious” instance of the convergence of posh and pop that his book inveighs against. 2015 August 28, John Dugdale, “Mario Vargas Llosa, Hola! and the shallow reading of a review”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • TRINCULO (speaking about Caliban): By this light, a most perfidious and drunken / monster: when his god's asleep, he'll rob his bottle. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
   • The perfidious Ricimer soon became dissatisfied with Anthe'mius, and raised the standard of revolt. 1851, Oliver Goldsmith, “ch. 26”, in William C. Taylor, editor, Dr. Goldsmith's History of Rome:
   • [S]he knew Huntly for the ambitious traitor he was, a man peculiarly perfidious and self-seeking. 1905, Andrew Lang, “ch. 14”, in John Knox and the Reformation:

Forms

Antonyms

loyal · faithful · honorable · trustworthy

Deriveds

perfidiousness · Perfidious Albion · unperfidious · perfidiously

Relateds

perfidy

Synonyms

deceitful · faithless · unfaithful · duplicitous · treacherous · traitorous · disloyal

Translations (37)

hu hitvány (pertaining to perfidy) · tr hain (pertaining to perfidy) · hu álnok (pertaining to perfidy) · bg предателски (pertaining to perfidy) · fi petollinen (pertaining to perfidy) · nl doortrapt (pertaining to perfidy) · ru кова́рный (pertaining to perfidy) · nap nfame (pertaining to perfidy) · la perfidus (pertaining to perfidy) · el παράσπονδος (pertaining to perfidy) · nl verraderlijk (pertaining to perfidy) · pdt ontru (pertaining to perfidy) · ru преда́тельский (pertaining to perfidy) · ga fealltach (pertaining to perfidy) · hu alattomos (pertaining to perfidy) · bg вероломен (pertaining to perfidy) · hu aljas (pertaining to perfidy) · hu galád (pertaining to perfidy) · ru вероло́мный (pertaining to perfidy) · hu szószegő (pertaining to perfidy) · hu csalárd (pertaining to perfidy) · fr perfide (pertaining to perfidy) · uk зрадливий (pertaining to perfidy) · hu hitszegő (pertaining to perfidy) · hu perfid (pertaining to perfidy) · pt desleal (pertaining to perfidy) · uk віроломний (pertaining to perfidy) · bg коварен (pertaining to perfidy) · io perfida (pertaining to perfidy) · cmn 背信棄義的 /背信弃义的 (pertaining to perfidy) · hu alávaló (pertaining to perfidy) · nl perfide (pertaining to perfidy) · hu áruló (pertaining to perfidy) · tr kalleş (pertaining to perfidy) · de perfide (pertaining to perfidy) · pt pérfido (pertaining to perfidy) · es pérfido (pertaining to perfidy)