Synonym Chooser

How is the word faithless different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of faithless are disloyal, false, perfidious, traitorous, and treacherous. While all these words 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

When can disloyal be used instead of faithless?

The synonyms disloyal and faithless are sometimes interchangeable, but disloyal implies a lack of complete faithfulness to a friend, cause, leader, or country.

disloyal to their country

When could false be used to replace faithless?

In some situations, the words false and faithless are roughly equivalent. However, false stresses the fact of failing to be true in any manner ranging from fickleness to cold treachery.

betrayed by false friends

How do perfidious and faithless relate to one another?

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

a perfidious double-crosser

When is traitorous a more appropriate choice than faithless?

While the synonyms traitorous and faithless are close in meaning, traitorous implies either actual treason or a serious betrayal of trust.

traitorous acts punishable by death

When might treacherous be a better fit than faithless?

The meanings of treacherous and faithless largely overlap; however, treacherous implies readiness to betray trust or confidence.

a treacherous adviser

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of faithless Nellore admits to being of faithless background yet criticizes people of faith. Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 8 Mar. 2024 Image In the Patricia Highsmith novel and the subsequent Hitchcock movie that introduced this intriguing plot to the public, the would-be victims are mere annoyances — a critical father, a faithless wife. Sarah Lyall, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2024 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 See all Example Sentences for faithless 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for faithless
Adjective
  • Guinevere, usually relegated to the thankless role of traitorous wife, acts here as Arthur’s beloved confidante.
    Elizabeth Hand, Washington Post, 16 July 2024
  • And somewhere between them on the war/peace continuum sit the men on Rhaenyra’s borderline traitorous council.
    Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 30 June 2024
Adjective
  • Over the past 15 or so months, the NBA world has been busy rejecting Zach LaVine as a genuine asset, often labeling his contract as being a net negative, and his game unreliable.
    Morten Stig Jensen, Forbes, 11 Jan. 2025
  • Remember when roaming costs were sky-high and unreliable connections were the norm?
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 9 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Those who disputed the accuracy of an account and thought their report had been corrected instead see the same false information reappear without explanation, the agency found.
    Kate Gibson, CBS News, 7 Jan. 2025
  • Users from a diverse range of perspectives would then reach an agreement on whether content is false, Kaplan said in a blog post.
    Queenie Wong, Los Angeles Times, 7 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • The Singularity, published three years earlier, during the same affair, concerns a scientist who turns a mountain into a supercomputer and gives it the personality of his dead wife, a younger woman who was persistently unfaithful to him.
    Christopher Tayler, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
  • Green asked the reporter, who alleged that the singer was unfaithful to his former fiancée.
    Julia Moore, People.com, 13 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • Moreover, the treacherous weather conditions also hampered efforts to fight the fires, as air crews were unable to operate due to strong gusts.
    Ned Kleiner, Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2025
  • With a winter storm warning in effect and a mix of snow and ice falling in North Texas, roads in the Dallas-Fort Worth area could become treacherous around midday Thursday, Jan. 9, and into Friday.
    Amy McDaniel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Jan. 2025

Thesaurus Entries Near faithless

Cite this Entry

“Faithless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/faithless. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on faithless

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!