A man who built his entire administration upon demanding unctuous loyalty from his allies now finds himself wounded by their shabby betrayal. You'd have to go back to one of Spain's humpbacked Hapsburgs to find court perfidy of the variety that is currently depleting the president's power.—Jack Hitt, Mother Jones, January & February 2006The petty Robespierres on the public stage appeal to "the real America" to rise up in fury against presidential perfidies; yet in poll after poll the real America keeps telling Washington that it has gone bonkers.—David L. Kirp, Nation, 8 Mar. 1999I lived there off and on for twenty years, through graduate studies, marriage, the end of marriage, the perfidies of middle age, all the while unaware of passion.—Susan Barron, New England Monthly, October 1989
They are guilty of perfidy.
his wife's perfidy was a moment of uncharacteristic weakness
Recent Examples on the WebRational arguments are unlikely to either persuade those convinced of the perfidy of the green transition or allay the grievances that fuel the populist ferment in the West.—Edoardo Campanella, Foreign Affairs, 25 July 2024 To Netanyahu’s supporters urging restraint by Israel is an act of perfidy, rather than an instance of a president upholding his oath to protect American interests.—Ben Krull, New York Daily News, 22 Apr. 2024 Drawing on American foreign policy circa 9/11 and the Iraq War, these pieces were huge collages of perfidies that Weinberger fashioned into a narrative of governmental misdeeds.—Wyatt Mason, Harper's Magazine, 26 Apr. 2024 For a regime that has staked much of its credibility and political future on the war in Ukraine, Putin and his Kremlin allies need to keep the domestic focus on the perfidy of the foes next door.—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 27 Mar. 2024 See all Example Sentences for perfidy
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'perfidy.' 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
Latin perfidia, from perfidus faithless, from per- detrimental to + fides faith — more at per-, faith
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