perfidy
/ˈpɝ.fɪ.di/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.02 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A state or act of violating faith or allegiance; violation of a promise or vow, or of trust.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Stratagems must be carefully distinguished strategy from perfidy, since the former are allowed, whereas the latter is prohibited."
- "Abuse of a protective emblem amounts to perfidy and constitutes a war crime under the customary law of armed conflict."
- "Ruses of war are legitimate so long as they do not involve treachery or perfidy on the part of the belligerent resorting to them."
- "Cyberattacks almost inevitably involve an element of deception, such as tricking a user to click on a malicious link. So, to what extent could cyberattacks count as perfidy and therefore be illegal given international humanitarian law?"
- "Germans could not get over the perfidy of it. It was unbelievable that the English, having degenerated to the stage where suffragettes heckled the Prime Minister and defied the police, were going to fight."
- "Honda Motor Co. is the latest victim of e-mail perfidy, which started when a phony chain letter promised that the automaker would give away free cars."
Etymology
From Middle French perfidie, from Latin perfidia from perfidus (“faithless, treacherous, false”), from fides (“faith”); related to, for example, English fidelity.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpɝ.fɪ.di/
- British English: /ˈpɜː.fɪ.di/