faithless

adjective

faith·​less ˈfāth-ləs How to pronounce faithless (audio)
1
: not true to allegiance or duty : treacherous, disloyal
a faithless servant
2
: not to be relied on : untrustworthy
a faithless tool
faithlessly adverb
faithlessness noun
Choose the Right Synonym for faithless

faithless, false, disloyal, traitorous, treacherous, perfidious mean untrue to what should command one's fidelity or allegiance.

faithless applies to any failure to keep a promise or pledge or any breach of allegiance or loyalty.

faithless allies

false stresses the fact of failing to be true in any manner ranging from fickleness to cold treachery.

betrayed by false friends

disloyal implies a lack of complete faithfulness to a friend, cause, leader, or country.

disloyal to their country

traitorous implies either actual treason or a serious betrayal of trust.

traitorous acts punishable by death

treacherous implies readiness to betray trust or confidence.

a treacherous adviser

perfidious adds to faithless the implication of an incapacity for fidelity or reliability.

a perfidious double-crosser

Examples of faithless in a Sentence

faithless friends who deserted him in his time of need
Recent Examples on the Web In Her Car follows Lydia, a psychologist with anxiety issues on her way to Kharkiv to divorce her faithless husband who spots a young woman at a bus station and decides to give a young woman a lift. Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Feb. 2024 She then can be redeemed only by killing the faithless Prince. Scott Cantrell, Dallas News, 8 Aug. 2023 The company is suing the faithless investors and is being sued itself by other investors who claim they were misled. WIRED, 28 Feb. 2023 And only around 160 faithless ballots have been cast in U.S. history. Fortune, 30 Nov. 2020 Through it all, forgiveness is given by the Countess Almaviva to her faithless husband in a seemingly impossible number of ways, making this the ultimate woman’s revenge in opera. Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2021 The Exorcist — The gold standard of horror distills the battle between good and evil down to its bare essence, a child possessed and faithless priest, maybe right next door. Mark Hughes, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2021 Following the ten faithless votes in 2016, more states adopted laws that prevent this. Fortune, 30 Nov. 2020 The objection to the faithless elector was rejected by both chambers. Nicholas Wu, USA TODAY, 6 Jan. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'faithless.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English feithles, from feith faith entry 1 + -les -less

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of faithless was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near faithless

Cite this Entry

“Faithless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/faithless. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

faithless

adjective
faith·​less ˈfāth-ləs How to pronounce faithless (audio)
1
: not true to allegiance or duty : disloyal
2
: not worthy of being trusted or relied upon
faithlessly adverb
faithlessness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on faithless

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