Definition of faithlessnext

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

Example 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 In 2016, a record number of faithless votes were cast. Robert Alexander and Anna Dawley, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Apr. 2025 Don Cheadle and Benicio del Toro are both quite good as part of a team that’s tasked with stealing a secret document, setting the stage for a drama involving gangsters, faithless lovers, and white-collar crooks. Tim Grierson, Vulture, 24 Jan. 2025 Once lost, now found, Ms. Brady offered the closing prayer as the smell of meatloaf promised lunch for the faithful and faithless alike. Moriah Ratner, New York Times, 24 Nov. 2024 Men are a structuring absence, as they are spoken of as faithless husbands, potential fiancés, feckless sons. John Bleasdale, Variety, 21 Nov. 2024 See All Example Sentences for faithless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for faithless
Adjective
  • Russell fabricates a lie with the rest of the villains, and the heroes believe it, despite a warning from one traitorous tribemate.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Dec. 2025
  • That video drew the ire of President Donald Trump, who deemed it traitorous.
    Mike Wall, Space.com, 25 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Consumers are increasingly turning to cyberspace for guidance about health and medicine, yet a growing number of sites offer unreliable information, new research shows.
    AJ Willingham, AJC.com, 28 Apr. 2026
  • Renewable energy is neither unreliable nor unaffordable.
    Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 27 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • But that confidence could harbor false hope, says Kelly Richardson, principal of Richardson Ober LLP, a California law firm known for offering community association advice, and a monthly contributing writer to the Southern California News Group.
    Amancai Biraben, Oc Register, 24 Apr. 2026
  • The indictment also charges Meade and West each with one count of conspiracy to obstruct and defeat the Internal Revenue Service, five counts of attempts to interfere with administration of internal revenue laws and seven counts of aiding or assisting the filing of false documents, officials said.
    Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • This isn't just some coach being unfaithful.
    Jon Root OutKick, FOXNews.com, 24 Apr. 2026
  • Upon discovering that her abusive husband (Caleb Landry Jones) had been unfaithful, Becky drove off with her parents' car and shot at the door of his mistress' apartment.
    Drew Mackie, PEOPLE, 11 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Ships have increasingly traveled through the Panama Canal as shipments are rerouted and buyers purchase from other countries to avoid commerce through now-treacherous Middle Eastern waterway.
    Alma Solis, Fortune, 24 Apr. 2026
  • Ben hunts, and Sasha tries to survive, not just him but various treacherous and dangerous elements that make that mountain climb at the start look like kids play.
    Pete Hammond, Deadline, 23 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Faithless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/faithless. Accessed 1 May. 2026.

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