Notorious means famous for something bad. When someone or something is notorious, everyone knows about them, but not in a good way.

A notorious bank robber is well-known because they've committed crimes. A neighborhood might have a notorious bully that everyone tries to avoid. A restaurant could become notorious for terrible food or rude service. The word carries a sense of widespread knowledge about negative qualities or actions.

You might hear about a notorious computer virus that caused problems worldwide, or a notorious mistake in history that people still talk about today. Sometimes places become notorious: Alcatraz was a notorious prison for dangerous criminals. Movies often feature notorious villains whose evil deeds make them infamous.

This makes it different from simply “famous.” An Olympic athlete is famous. A pirate like Blackbeard was notorious.

Be careful not to confuse notorious with noteworthy or notable, which simply mean worth paying attention to, without the negative meaning. When something is notorious, people remember it for the wrong reasons.