Infamous vs notorious

Both mean being widely known for something negative.

Agree with the first answer.

But from personal experience I feel that infamous is more used mainly with criminals, and notorious more with anything.

Like I would say:

"The 'ough' words in english are quite notorious."
But I wouldn't say
"The 'ough' words in english are quite infamous."

Its not wrong, and maybe others would say it. But here (australia),

There are definitely nuances in how these two are used. I use notorious in two ways. One is for things that are slightly unsavory, but not really criminal, e.g., "That newspaper is notorious for sensationalizing news stories." The other would be for criminals who are well known, such as, "Al Capone was a notorious gangster during the prohibition era."

I tend to use infamous more in se

This is an inadequate answer. In fact, the two words have distinctly different connotations, though sadly the distinction is becoming lost. The episode of Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" was notorious. Saddam Hussein was an infamous tyrant. In other words, "notorious" means famous for a discreditable reason, whereas "infamous" implies a value judgement.

You may be on the right track. FDR would not have said of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, "This day shall live in notoriety."

"Notorious and infamous are two words that often go together since both words have a negative connotation associated with them Notorious refers to being famous for something bad. Infamous refers to being well known for a bad quality or deed. Both notorious and infamous are adjectives. The