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Here’s a beautiful word with an ugly meaning. Perfidious is an adjective used to describe someone who possesses a deceitful and untrustworthy nature. Despite the flowing syllables which roll off the tongue so eloquently, this is not a word you will be using to describe a person in a positive light.

A person can be labelled perfidious if they lie often, or if they betray a person’s trust. Traitors and backstabbers are therefore some of the best examples of people who have a rather perfidious character.

Several synonyms of perfidious include dishonest, disloyal, traitorous, treacherous and unfaithful.

Pronunciation: 
Per-fidd-ee-iss

Example of ‘perfidious’ used in a sentence:
When Annabelle lied to her husband for the first time, he felt uncomfortable with her dishonesty. But then she lied again, and he was shocked by just how perfidious she could be.