per·fid·i·ous

(pər-fĭd′ē-əs)

adj.

Of, relating to, or marked by perfidy; treacherous. See Synonyms at faithless.

per·fid′i·ous·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

perfidious

(pəˈfɪdɪəs)

adj

guilty, treacherous, or faithless; deceitful

perˈfidiously adv

perˈfidiousness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

per•fid•i•ous

(pərˈfɪd i əs)

adj.

deliberately faithless; treacherous; deceitful.

[1590–1600; < Latin perfidiōsus faithless, dishonest. See perfidy, -ous]

per•fid′i•ous•ly, adv.

per•fid′i•ous•ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.

perfidious - tending to betray; especially having a treacherous character as attributed to the Carthaginians by the Romans; "Punic faith"; "the perfidious Judas"; "the fiercest and most treacherous of foes"; "treacherous intrigues"

punic, treacherous

unfaithful - not true to duty or obligation or promises; "an unfaithful lover"

perfidious

adjective (Literary) treacherous, dishonest, false, corrupt, unfaithful, two-faced, disloyal, deceitful, faithless, untrustworthy, double-dealing, traitorous, double-faced, treasonous, recreant (archaic) She says that politicians are a perfidious breed.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

perfidious

adjective

Not true to duty or obligation:

disloyal, faithless, false, false-hearted, recreant, traitorous, treacherous, unfaithful, untrue.

Translations

perfide

perfido sleale

pérfido

perfidious

[pɜːˈfɪdɪəs] ADJ (liter) → pérfido

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

perfidious

[pə^rˈfɪdiəs] (literary) adj (= treacherous) → perfide

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

perfidious

adj, perfidiously

adv (liter) → perfid(e) (liter)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

perfidious

[pɜːˈfɪdɪəs] adj → perfido/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Such perfidious Treachery in the merciless perpetrators of the Deed will shock your gentle nature Dearest Marianne as much as it then affected the Delicate sensibility of Edward, Sophia, your Laura, and of Augustus himself.

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There is no vice, that doth so cover a man with shame, as to be found false and perfidious. And therefore Montaigne saith prettily, when he inquired the reason, why the word of the lie should be such a disgrace, and such an odious charge?

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Many had shown themselves eager to see the perfidious blood of the guilty Cornelius flow, but not one had shown such a keen anxiety as the individual just alluded to.

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Steering to the north, Captain Thorn arrived in a few days at Vancouver's Island, and anchored in the harbor of Neweetee, very much against the advice of his Indian interpreter, who warned him against the perfidious character of the natives of this part of the coast.

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Rather Cape Tormentoto, as called of yore; for long allured by the perfidious silences that before had attended us, we found ourselves launched into this tormented sea, where guilty beings transformed into those fowls and these fish, seemed condemned to swim on everlastingly without any haven in store, or beat that black air without any horizon.

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This, it has been said, would constitute the senators their own judges, in every case of a corrupt or perfidious execution of that trust.

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The improbability of such a mercenary and perfidious combination of the several members of government, standing on as different foundations as republican principles will well admit, and at the same time accountable to the society over which they are placed, ought alone to quiet this apprehension.

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In short, so operative were the terrors that surrounded them, that of twenty-four young men, who deserted from a transport, twenty-two were glad to return of themselves, the others being shot by sentinels; and one of their friends, who was supposed to have been accessory to their escape, was carried on shore to behold the destruction of his house and effects, which were burned in his presence, as a punishment for his temerity and perfidious aid to his comrades.

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The Blackfeet said nothing of the late battle, of which Fontenelle had as yet received no accounts; the latter, however, knew the hostile and perfidious nature of these savages, and took care to inform them of the encampment of Captain Bonneville, that they might know there were more white men in the neighborhood.

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No language can describe the wretchedness which I felt; and in the bitterness of my soul I imprecated a thousand curses on the perfidious Toby, who had thus abandoned me to destruction.

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Around the brave Tiger Lily were a dozen of her stoutest warriors, and they suddenly saw the perfidious pirates bearing down upon them.

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'You answer my questions - before you leave this spot I will know what you mean by this perfidious duplicity!'

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