Standard Lemma guide

faithful

adj · noun · 14 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈfeɪθ.fl̩/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: F EY1 TH F AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • My dog is very faithful: he doesn't like to be petted by anybody else.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Having faith.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Reliable; worthy of trust.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • My servant is very faithful.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Consistent with reality.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • I would consider that a very faithful reproduction.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adj

Meaning 5

Engaging in sexual relations only with one's spouse or long-term sexual partner.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • They had been faithful to each other all of their married life.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adj

Meaning 6

Injective in specific contexts, e.g. of representations in representation or functors in category theory.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: mathematics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

adj

Meaning 7

Of a module, whose annihilator is zero.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: ring theory

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

The practicing members of a religion or followers of a cause.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: noun, plural

Examples

  • The faithful pray five times a day.
  • The annual meeting was attended by the long-term party faithful.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

Someone or something that is faithful or reliable.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

adjective

Meaning 10

steadfast in affection or allegiance

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • years of faithful service
  • faithful employees
  • we do not doubt that England has a faithful patriot in the Lord Chancellor

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: unfaithful

11

adjective

Meaning 11

not having sexual relations with anyone except your husband or wife, or your boyfriend or girlfriend

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he remained faithful to his wife

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: unfaithful

12

adjective satellite

Meaning 12

marked by fidelity to an original

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a close translation
  • a faithful copy of the portrait
  • a faithful rendering of the observed facts

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: close

Antonyms: none provided

13

noun

Meaning 13

a group of people who adhere to a common faith and habitually attend a given church

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: congregation, fold

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: social group

Narrower terms: flock

14

noun

Meaning 14

any loyal and steadfast following

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: following, followers

History

Etymology

From Middle English feithful, equivalent to faith + -ful.

Across languages

Translations

212 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: besnik — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Arabic: وَفِيّ (wafiyy) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Arabic: مُخْلِص (muḵliṣ) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Armenian: հավատարիմ (havatarim) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Azerbaijani: sadiq — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Azerbaijani: sədaqətli — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Azerbaijani: vəfalı — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Bashkir: тоғро (toğro) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Belarusian: ве́рны (vjérny) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Bengali: বিশ্বস্ত (biśśosto) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Bengali: অনুগত (onugoto) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Bulgarian: ве́рен (véren) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Bulgarian: пре́дан (prédan) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Burmese: သစ္စာရှိ (saccahri.) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Catalan: fidel — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Catalan: lleial — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Chinese Mandarin: 忠實 /忠实 (zhōngshí) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Czech: věrný — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Danish: trofast — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Dutch: getrouw — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Esperanto: fidela — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Estonian: ustav — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Estonian: truu — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Finnish: uskollinen — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • French: fidèle — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • French: loyal — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Friulian: fidêl — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Galician: fiel — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Galician: leal — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Georgian: ერთგული (ertguli) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • German: treu — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • German: loyal — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • German: anhänglich — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • German: treu ergeben — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • German: zuverlässig — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • German: getreu — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Gothic: 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐍃 (triggws) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Greek: πιστός (pistós) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Ancient Greek: πιστός (pistós) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Hebrew: נֶאֱמָן (ne'emán) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Hindi: निष्ठावान (niṣṭhāvān) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Hindi: वफ़ादार (vafādār) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Hungarian: hű — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Hungarian: hűséges — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Icelandic: trúr — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Icelandic: tryggur — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Ido: fidela — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Indonesian: setia — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Ingrian: vernoi — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Italian: fedele — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Italian: ligio — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Japanese: 忠実な (chūjitsu na) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Kazakh: адал (adal) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Khmer: ចិត្តត្រង់ (cət trɑng) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Korean: 충실하다 (chungsilhada) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Northern Kurdish: wefadar — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Northern Kurdish: dilsoz — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Kyrgyz: ишенимдүү (işenimdüü) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Kyrgyz: динге ишенген (dinge işengen) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Kyrgyz: чынчыл (cıncıl) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Kyrgyz: ишенчиликтүү (işenciliktüü) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Kyrgyz: так (tak) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Ladin: fedel — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Lao: ຊື່ (sư̄) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Lao: ຊື່ຕົງ (sư̄ tong) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Latgalian: teirserdeigs — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Latin: firmus — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Latin: fidēlis — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Latin: fidus — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Latvian: godprātīgs — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Latvian: uzticīgs — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Lithuanian: ištikimas — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Low German: tro — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Macedonian: верен (veren) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Malay: setia — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Māori: pirihonga — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Māori: piripono — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Mongolian: үнэнч (ünenč) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Mongolian: ᠦᠨᠡᠨᠴᠢ (ünenči) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Norwegian Bokmål: trofast — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: trufast — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Old English: trīewe — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Old English: ġetrīewe — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Pashto: وفادار (wafādãr) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Persian: وفادار (vafâdâr) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Polish: wierny — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Portuguese: fiel — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Portuguese: leal — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Romagnol: fidél — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Romanian: fidel — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Romanian: loial — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Russian: ве́рный (vérnyj) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Russian: пре́данный (prédannyj) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Sanskrit: निष्ठावान् (niṣṭhāvān) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Sanskrit: भक्त (bhakta) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Sardinian: fidele — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Sardinian: fideli — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Sardinian: fieli — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Scottish Gaelic: dìleas — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Serbo-Croatian: веран — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Serbo-Croatian: вјеран — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Serbo-Croatian: veran — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Serbo-Croatian: vjeran — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Sicilian: fideli — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Slovak: verný — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Slovene: zvest — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Spanish: fiel — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Swedish: trogen — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Tajik: вафодор (vafodor) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Telugu: నమ్మకమైన (nammakamaina) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Thai: ซื่อสัตย์ (sʉ̂ʉ-sàt) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Thai: จงรัก (jong-rák) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Thai: ซื่อตรง (sʉ̂ʉ-dtrong) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Thai: ซื่อ (sʉ̂ʉ) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Turkish: sadakatli — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Turkish: sadık — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Turkish: vefakar — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Turkish: vefakâr — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Turkish: vefalı — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Turkmen: wepaly — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Ukrainian: ві́рний (vírnyj) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Ukrainian: ві́дданий (víddanyj) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Urdu: وفادار (vafādār) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Uyghur: سادىق (sadiq) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Uyghur: ۋاپادار (wapadar) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Uzbek: sodiq — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Uzbek: vafodor — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Vietnamese: chung thủy — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Welsh: fyddlon — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Yiddish: טרײַ (tray) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Yiddish: געטרײַ (getray) — loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause
  • Bulgarian: вярващ (vjarvašt) — having faith
  • Catalan: fidel — having faith
  • Dutch: trouw — having faith
  • Finnish: uskollinen — having faith
  • French: fidèle — having faith
  • Galician: fiel — having faith
  • Galician: crente — having faith
  • German: treu — having faith
  • German: gläubig — having faith
  • German: glaubenstreu — having faith
  • Ancient Greek: πιστός (pistós) — having faith
  • Italian: fedele — having faith
  • Latin: fidelis — having faith
  • Latin: fidus — having faith
  • Norwegian: troende — having faith
  • Polish: wierny — having faith
  • Portuguese: fiel — having faith
  • Portuguese: crente — having faith
  • Romagnol: fidél — having faith
  • Romagnol: fedél — having faith
  • Russian: ве́рующий (vérujuščij) — having faith
  • Spanish: fiel — having faith
  • Turkish: inançlı — having faith
  • Ukrainian: ві́руючий (vírujučyj) — having faith
  • Arabic: أَمِين (ʔamīn) — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Bulgarian: верен (veren) — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Bulgarian: надежден (nadežden) — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Catalan: fidel — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Danish: pålidelig — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Dutch: trouw — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Finnish: luotettava — reliable; worthy of trust
  • French: fidèle — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Galician: leal — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Galician: fiel — reliable; worthy of trust
  • German: treu — reliable; worthy of trust
  • German: zuverlässig — reliable; worthy of trust
  • German: ergeben — reliable; worthy of trust
  • German: vertrauensvoll — reliable; worthy of trust
  • German: vertrauenswürdig — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Ancient Greek: πιστός (pistós) — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Italian: affidabile — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Latin: fidēlis — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Latin: fidus — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Norwegian: troverdig — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Norwegian Bokmål: etterrettelig — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Norwegian Bokmål: trofast — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: trufast — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Plautdietsch: tru — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Portuguese: fiel — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Portuguese: leal — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Portuguese: confiável — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Russian: надёжный (nadjóžnyj) — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Russian: заслу́живающий дове́рия (zaslúživajuščij dovérija) — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Swahili: -aminifu — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Turkish: güvenilir — reliable; worthy of trust
  • Bulgarian: правдив (pravdiv) — consistent with reality
  • Bulgarian: достоверен (dostoveren) — consistent with reality
  • Catalan: fidel — consistent with reality
  • Czech: věrný — consistent with reality
  • Danish: nøjagtig — consistent with reality
  • Danish: tro — consistent with reality
  • Finnish: uskollinen — consistent with reality
  • German: genau — consistent with reality
  • German: übereinstimmend — consistent with reality
  • German: gewissenhaft — consistent with reality
  • German: getreu — consistent with reality
  • German: werktreu — consistent with reality
  • German: sinngetreu — consistent with reality
  • German: orginalgetreu — consistent with reality
  • German: detailgetreu — consistent with reality
  • German: klangtreu — consistent with reality
  • German: naturgetreu — consistent with reality
  • German: wahrheitsgetreu — consistent with reality
  • German: glaubwürdig — consistent with reality
  • Norwegian: tro — consistent with reality
  • Portuguese: fiel — consistent with reality
  • Portuguese: verossímil — consistent with reality
  • Russian: ве́рный (vérnyj) — consistent with reality
  • Russian: то́чный (tóčnyj) — consistent with reality
  • Turkish: sadık — consistent with reality
  • Turkish: gerçekçi — consistent with reality
Real reading context

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