# famous - opposite?



## Senordineroman

I can't believe I'm an ESL teacher and I'm asking this question.  What is an antonym for famous?  Doesn't "infamous (pronounced IN-fa-mous) mean _very famous?  _None of the other negating prefixes seem to work - "nonfamous, unfamous...".  

I'm thinking of just going with "unpopular".  The question for my students is, "Make a list of the good things and bad things about being an __________ musician."


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## marget

ChrisCashman said:


> I can't believe I'm an ESL teacher and I'm asking this question. What is an antonym for famous? Doesn't "infamous (pronounced IN-fa-mous) mean _very famous? _None of the other negating prefixes seem to work - "nonfamous, unfamous...".
> 
> I'm thinking of just going with "unpopular". The question for my students is, "Make a list of the good things and bad things about being an __________ musician."


 
Would _little-known_ work?


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## tepatria

Would obscure work in the context??


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## dijw

I would say unknown, or maybe in the context of speaking about an artist, undiscovered.

Infamous is used for something well known for some negative reason.

Good luck

Denise


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## nichec

dijw said:


> I would say unknown, or maybe in the context of speaking about an artist, undiscovered.
> 
> Infamous is used for something well known for some negative reason.
> 
> Good luck
> 
> Denise


 
I like "unknown", and how about "unsuccessful"?


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## jdenson

ChrisCashman said:


> I can't believe I'm an ESL teacher and I'm asking this question.  What is an antonym for famous?  Doesn't "infamous (pronounced IN-fa-mous) mean _very famous?  _None of the other negating prefixes seem to work - "nonfamous, unfamous...".
> 
> I'm thinking of just going with "unpopular".  The question for my students is, "Make a list of the good things and bad things about being an __________ musician."


I think that "unknown" works best here.
Infamous - _having an exceedingly bad reputation; "a notorious gangster"; the tenderloin district was notorious for vice _(from the WR Dictionary)
JD


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## Trisia

I like "unsuccessful" but "obscure" also seems great.

Oh, and, to the best of my knowledge, "infamous" means _very famous_, but in a bad way.


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## nichec

Trisia said:


> Oh, and, to the best of my knowledge, "infamous" means _very famous_, but in a bad way.


 
Yeah, just like "notorious"


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## konungursvia

You could also call him a nobody, an unknown.


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## mplsray

ChrisCashman said:


> I can't believe I'm an ESL teacher and I'm asking this question. What is an antonym for famous? Doesn't "infamous (pronounced IN-fa-mous) mean _very famous? _None of the other negating prefixes seem to work - "nonfamous, unfamous...".
> 
> I'm thinking of just going with "unpopular". The question for my students is, "Make a list of the good things and bad things about being an __________ musician."


 
I would like to point out that _infamous_ is indeed an antonym to _famous,_ just not one with the meaning you had in mind. One is famous for having done something the speaker is in favor of and infamous for doing something which the speaker is against. The word goes back to Latin infamis, meaning "without (good) fame" (source: The Century Dictionary).


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## nexpyru

ChrisCashman said:


> I can't believe I'm an ESL teacher and I'm asking this question.  What is an antonym for famous?  Doesn't "infamous (pronounced IN-fa-mous) mean _very famous?  _None of the other negating prefixes seem to work - "nonfamous, unfamous...".
> 
> I'm thinking of just going with "unpopular".  The question for my students is, "Make a list of the good things and bad things about being an __________ musician."



In this context, the best choice would be "anonymous", although "unknown" also works fine. "Unpopular" means something completely different (an "unpopular musician" being someone whose music most people dislike) "Infamous", as Mplsray correctly pointed out, actually means someone or something who is widely known for being evil ("the infamous Adolf Hitler" or "the infamous Inquisition")


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## LV4-26

I'm aware it could be misunderstood but I wonder if _a rank-and-file musician_ could do.


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## Senordineroman

Well yeah.  _That's _true.  Rank-and-file could be opposite of "famous", but..... hm.  Does "rank-and-file" refer to the normal, everyday people that work in a certain institution, though?  

Interesting..........


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## Dmitry_86

ChrisCashman said:


> Well yeah. _That's _true. Rank-and-file could be opposite of "famous", but..... hm. Does "rank-and-file" refer to the normal, everyday people that work in a certain institution, though?
> 
> Interesting..........


 
E.g.: "rank-and-file" party activists rather than the heads of one. The example has been taken from our Soviet past . By the way, "rank-and-file" seems to me synonymous with "ordinary", which can also replace the antonym of "famous" sometimes. Another word is "common" but it sounds more humiliating than "ordinary" when used to talk about people.


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## spatula

I don't think words such as 'unpopular', 'unsuccessful', 'a nobody' or 'obscure' are right at all.  And absolutely not 'infamous'.  Just because a musician may not be high-profile does not mean s/he's not popular or successful.  It could be a session musician for example, who's happy not being in the limelight; an unsung hero if you will (no pun intended!).

The best suggested so far have to be 'little-known', 'unknown' or 'anonymous'.


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## Dmitry_86

spatula said:


> I don't think words such as 'unpopular', 'unsuccessful', 'a nobody' or 'obscure' are right at all. And absolutely not 'infamous'. Just because a musician may not be high-profile does not mean s/he's not popular or successful. It could be a session musician for example, who's happy not being in the limelight; an unsung hero if you will (no pun intended!).
> 
> The best suggested so far have to be 'little-known', 'unknown' or 'anonymous'.


 
As far as I am aware, "anonymous" is more about someone who tries to hide their results, achievements or even heroic deeds from others. That is, they do it intentionally. But maybe we need a word describing a person who is just not very famous but not because they have always tried to conceal it from others but because either other people are better or because one is unsuccessful.  Sometimes, however, indeed a person may die having created something outstanding, years have passed and descendants observe a masterpiece but do not know its great creator.


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## spatula

Dmitry_86 said:


> As far as I am aware, "anonymous" is more about someone who tries to hide their results, achievements or even heroic deeds from others. That is, they do it intentionally. But maybe we need a word describing a person who is just not very famous but not because they have always tried to conceal it from others but because either other people are better or because one is unsuccessful. Sometimes, however, indeed a person may die having created something outstanding, years have passed and descendants observe a masterpiece but do not know its great creator.


 
You're right Dmitry, 'anonymous' does perhaps have this slant (but not exclusively I would argue).  Perhaps we could find out the context in order to offer better suggestions.  Is it intended to be an impartial description of the musician's non-celebrity status, or loaded to be either positive or negative?  Is it a description which the musician would happily give themselves that you need?  Has the musician shunned fame deliberately?


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## Sepia

I must strongly object to "unsucessful" as antonym to "famous". How on Earth did anyone get that idea? Everybody who is famous is successfull, thus who is not famous is has no success, ist that it? As if the only kind of success worth striving for included being famous. There is probably lots and lots of people that are highly succssful and completely unknown to the general public. Even in highly visible arts like pop music.


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## Dmitry_86

Sepia said:


> I must strongly object to "unsucessful" as antonym to "famous". How on Earth did anyone get that idea? Everybody who is famous is successfull, thus who is not famous is has no success, ist that it? As if the only kind of success worth striving for included being famous. There is probably lots and lots of people that are highly succssful and completely unknown to the general public. Even in highly visible arts like pop music.


 
As far as I am concerned, I agree that "unsuccessful" can be a synonym for "someone who is not famous". Yes, sometimes people are not famous for some of their achievements but at the same time they are well-to-do (affluent, solvent) because they earn enough, have families, cars, luxurious cottages, etc. The other situation is when they are not famous and hence unsuccessful because, for example, they consider themselves so since they have not achieved the objectives they have set themselves. These two are possible!!!


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## spatula

Dmitry_86 said:


> As far as I am concerned, I agree that "unsuccessful" can be a synonym for "someone who is not famous". Yes, sometimes people are not famous for some of their achievements but at the same time they are well-to-do (affluent, solvent) because they earn enough, have families, cars, luxurious cottages, etc. The other situation is when they are not famous and hence unsuccessful because, for example, they consider themselves so since they have not achieved the objectives they have set themselves. These two are possible!!!


 
Absolutely not.  I am not famous Dmitry, yet does that automatically mean that I am unsuccessful also?  This is wrong!


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## Dmitry_86

spatula said:


> Absolutely not. I am not famous Dmitry, yet does that automatically mean that I am unsuccessful also? This is wrong!


 
No, it does not. But it can mean this and I have written about this possibility above.


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## spatula

Dmitry_86 said:


> No, it does not. But it can mean this and I have written about this possibility above.


 
Ok. I'm in danger of getting into a debate off-topic regarding the vacuous views of fame being a symbol of success, so I'll quit while I still can! I'd welcome some more context to know the intention behind the question in order to get back on track....


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## Pedro y La Torre

Dmitry_86 said:


> As far as I am concerned, I agree that "unsuccessful" can be a synonym for "someone who is not famous". Yes, sometimes people are not famous for some of their achievements but at the same time they are well-to-do (affluent, solvent) because they earn enough, have families, cars, luxurious cottages, etc. The other situation is when they are not famous and hence unsuccessful because, for example, they consider themselves so since they have not achieved the objectives they have set themselves. These two are possible!!!



With the greatest of respect, this is completely and utterly ridiculous.

Unsuccessful is not, and cannot be, an antonym of famous.


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## Kevin Beach

The primary meaning of "successful" is to achieve what one is striving for. That can be done in complete privacy. Successful isn't a synonym for "Famous", so "unsuccessful" can't be its antonym.

To my mind, "famous" is a synonym for "(very) well known", so "unknown" is the best antonym.


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## LV4-26

I agree with those who say we need more context. I think we're having a problem, not so much with the adjective as with the noun.
What sort of musician are we talking about? A classical musican, a pop musician, an instrumentist, a singer, a composer?

For many people, a pop musician must appear on TV to be considered famous. I'm not sure the same criterium applies to classical musicians.

With the little info available, I'm looking for an adjective that would mean  "_not in the limelight_". The problem is am I the only one? In other words, are we all searching in the same direction?

In the absence of a better option, my preference goes to _little-known_.


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## wayoutwest888

In primary school, my teacher taught me the word "unknown".

And now I know another word "anonymous".

They are both antonyms to "famous".


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## sasmith

Reading this, I'm quickly coming to the conclusion that the only true antonym for 'famous' is 'not famous'.

As other's have said it certainly isn't 'infamous' (well, it is, but in a different context)
'Anonymous' and 'unknown' are possibilities depending on the meaning required, but in many circumstances wouldn't be ideal.
It most definitely isn't 'unsuccessful' - someone could even be famous for being unsuccessful


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## LV4-26

I agree, but how do you fit it into the original sentence?


> Make a list of the good things and bad things about being a __________ musician."


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## spatula

LV4-26 said:


> I agree, but how do you fit it into the original sentence?


 
I agree with everything you said in post 25. My advice would be not to try to shoehorn in a word that we can't even agree on () just in order to retain the original structure of the sentence. With no more direction or context forthcoming, I still think 'little-known' or 'unknown' are the best bets. Not great though.


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## DBass

Maybe "Not renowned musician"...?


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## JamesM

"Obscure" is often used to describe an artist who is hardly known.


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## nexpyru

Dmitry_86 said:


> As far as I am aware, "anonymous" is more about someone who tries to hide their results, achievements or even heroic deeds from others.



Not really. In that context, it just means we don't know the name of the author ("Anonymous" comes from greek "onimus" -name- and "an" -without-) without any information regarding "intention"

In the original context, though, it works perfectly, because an "anonymous musician" is a "not famous" musician. As I said, "unknown" would also work, but i don't like it because it is not so specific ("not famous" means some people could actually know about the musician, just not so many people, while "unknown" would rather mean close to nobody knows him/her)

As already pointed out by Pedro y La Torre and Sasmith "unsuccessful" could NEVER be an antonym for "famous"

"Not renowned" is indeed an option, because "renowned" is a synonym for "famous", but it doesn't fit in the original sentence (and, anyway, I don't like it. It would be just too easy if we were to get an antonym just by writing "not" before the actual word, wouldn't it)

"Obscure" is another good option, but in the original sentence it could be mistaken for a muscian whose work is "hard to understand"

Recap: "Anonymous" is the word. Second best: "Obscure", "Unknown"


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## Imber Ranae

I would suggest 'unnoted'.


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## Arkalai

dijw said:


> Infamous is used for something well known for some negative reason.


This is true, so as it's been pointed out, not the word you're looking for.
My suggestions are _*unheard of, less well-known*_ - you might also consider_ unnotable _and_ insignificant_, but these seem a bit demeaning.


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## JulianStuart

Undiscovered? Famous do not _necessarily_ mean "high quality", just that many people are aware of the person who has fame.  Undiscovered similarly doesn't predict "high quality" just that no-one knows about this person yet.  Think of William Hung   Very famous, lousy singer.  He was undiscovered before American Idol, famous as a result of being "bad"!!!

I think an anonymous person can be famous, it's just that no-one knows the person's identity - think of (the Washington informer) Deep Throat.  Success is irrelevant too.


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## JamesM

Of all the suggestions so far, including mine, I think "unknown" is the closest to an antonym of "famous."


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## LV4-26

The problem I'm having with _unknown_ is that, for some reason, I sense an atmosphere of mistery or fantasy around it (The unknown land, the unknown soldier, the unknown ranger come to my mind), that sort of interferes with the neutral message we need to convey here.
This must be why, from the start, I've always preferred _little known_.
Incidentally, it is interesting to note that, basically, all the terms that didn't seem to fit had this in common that they weren't neutral enough.

However, if you natives do not get the same impression, I can just forget it. 
(take this as a question rather than an opinion).


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## Ann O'Rack

I think "unknown" would fit well, in the given sentence, and in this instance doesn't have any hint of mystery.

I particularly like "undiscovered", even if it's not the best option in this instance, for its sense of optimism and its hint that here is a brilliant musician who will be famous once he's been discovered!


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## Arkalai

LV4-26 said:


> The problem I'm having with _unknown_ is that, for some reason, I sense an atmosphere of mistery or fantasy around it



My thoughts exactly. I always attach a sense of mystery to _unknown_, which is why alternatives may be better.


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## Packard

*Shadowy* and _*sub rosa*_ come to mind.

I'm often amused by the police (or news media) when they refer to "un-named sources".  Someone gave birth and failed to name their offspring?


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## Welcome2Lauraland

Senordineroman said:


> I can't believe I'm an ESL teacher and I'm asking this question.  What is an antonym for famous?  Doesn't "infamous (pronounced IN-fa-mous) mean _very famous?  _None of the other negating prefixes seem to work - "nonfamous, unfamous...".
> 
> I'm thinking of just going with "unpopular".  The question for my students is, "Make a list of the good things and bad things about being an __________ musician."





Senordineroman said:


> I can't believe I'm an ESL teacher and I'm asking this question.  What is an antonym for famous?  Doesn't "infamous (pronounced IN-fa-mous) mean _very famous?  _None of the other negating prefixes seem to work - "nonfamous, unfamous...".
> 
> I'm thinking of just going with "unpopular".  The question for my students is, "Make a list of the good things and bad things about being an __________ musician."


Unfortunately, I haven't quite read through alllll of the responses to this question...so my apologies if I'm repeating previous answers. Here's what I've got on this...
Infamous is actually defined as having a reputation of the worst kind. The word to be used, although I know it seems odd is actually -unfamous! It's a word!!! I didn't want to believe it myself, but I double checked it and it really is! I'm attaching a screenshot of where I found it online in case you wanted to see for yourself! It's in the dictionary. 
Hope this helps someone somewhere! Lol... P.S. I get extremely irritated when people use infamous incorrectly because my middle school English teacher drilled us on that one and when they say iMfamous on top of that...woooweee ... I could swear the top of my head blows off like a whistle on a steam engine 🚂 Take care y'all!


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## Egmont

Welcome2Lauraland said:


> Unfortunately, I haven't quite read through alllll of the responses to this question...so my apologies if I'm repeating previous answers. Here's what I've got on this...


Not to worry. If the original poster didn't find out what he* wanted to know during the 14 years that have passed since he asked this question, he's probably forgotten that he asked it.
_________________
*Gender inferred from the Spanish and English parts of the username.


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## Packard

A couple of other word-choices:  Incognito and unsung.

"Incognito" means intentionally unknown, often by use of a false name or disguise.   "Unsung" means unknown but deserving to be known.  Both definitions from Collins Dictionary


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## Loob

Welcome to the forums, Welcome2Lauraland, and thank you for your post 41.

That Merriam-Webster definition really doesn't work for me.  I would expect a teacher seeing "an unfamous actor" in a piece of schoolwork to put a big red  against it.


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## Sepia

Loob said:


> Welcome to the forums, Welcome2Lauraland, and thank you for your post 41.
> 
> That Merriam-Webster definition really doesn't work for me.  I would expect a teacher seeing "an unfamous actor" in a piece of schoolwork to put a big red  against it.




Maybe it is just because you are not used to speaking out this word. You simply do not have the opportunity to use. as the actors where the word would be appliccable for some reason are unknown to you. An indicator that the word actually exists, but is rarely used is that if you put it into the Internet search-machine you get three pages of links to dictionaries and only on page four a link to a magazine article with the title "Famous and unfamous feminists".

Famous and Unfamous Feminists | Public Books

So I suppose we'll have to accept it since dictionaries only know "living" and "dead" words (marked with a cross) and not un-dead words.


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## grassy

Sepia said:


> Maybe it is just because you are not used to speaking out this word.


But the word just isn't commonly used. Seriously.

Like Loob, I'd put a cross next to "an unfamous actor", unless there's some context to justify this innovation. The other example about "going through the unfamous stage" seems fine to me. The word seems to be used jokingly.


Sepia said:


> a magazine article with the title "Famous and unfamous feminists".


"Unfamous" is opposed to "famous" there. It catches the readers' attention. The title "Famous and little-known feminists" would be boring and would seem like the title of a 500-page monography on the subject!


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## Roxxxannne

I agree that the author of that blog (or her headline writer) used 'unfamous' because it's eye-catching. 
But ordinarily, if the writer is not trying to get someone's attention, I can imagine using 'famous and not-famous feminists' so that readers wouldn't think it was a typo for 'infamous.'  Even 'not-famous' is a bit out of the ordinary.


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## Senordineroman

Egmont said:


> Not to worry. If the original poster didn't find out what he* wanted to know during the 14 years that have passed since he asked this question, he's probably forgotten that he asked it.
> _________________
> *Gender inferred from the Spanish and English parts of the username.



I did indeed forget that I asked this - and yet here I am 14 years later getting a notification about this.  Interesting.


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## LVRBC

The word in common use as the antonym of famous  is definitely obscure, as someone already said 14 years ago. If another alternative is required, then little-known or even unknown.


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