perfidy

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun betrayal of a trust
  2. noun an act of deliberate betrayal

Etymology

From Middle French perfidie, from Latin perfidia from perfidus (“faithless, treacherous, false”), from fides (“faith”); related to, for example, English fidelity.

In classic literature

Synonyms

perfidiousness, treachery

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