perfide

treacherous, perfidious

adjective pehr-FEED Rare

Origin: Latin perfidus

Usage Note

Perfide carries a literary and formal register; it is rarely used in everyday speech but frequently appears in classical texts and political rhetoric. The noun perfidie means 'treachery'. Note the phrase la perfide Albion, a historical French epithet for England.

Examples

"Il lui fit une proposition perfide."

Natural Translation

He made him a treacherous proposal.

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