faith Hear it!

faith Definition

faith (fāt̸h)

noun

  1. unquestioning belief that does not require proof or evidence
  2. unquestioning belief in God, religious tenets, etc.
  3. a religion or a system of religious beliefs
  4. anything believed
  5. complete trust, confidence, or reliance
  6. allegiance to some person or thing; loyalty

Etymology: ME feith < OFr feid, fei < L fides, confidence, belief (in LL(Ec), the Christian religion) < fidere, to trust < IE base *bheidh-, to urge, be convinced > bide, Gr peithein, to persuade, L foedus, a compact

Archaic indeed; in faith

faith Idioms

break (or keep) faith

  1. to be disloyal (or loyal) to one's beliefs, principles, etc.
  2. to break (or keep) a promise

in faith

indeed; really

on faith

through trust; without proof or evidence

Faith Definition

Faith (fāt̸h)

noun

a feminine name

Etymology: see faith

faith Synonyms

faith

n.

  1. Complete trust

    confidence, trust, credence, belief, credit, assurance, acceptance, expectation, hope, dependence, conviction, sureness, fidelity, loyalty, troth, certainty, surety, allegiance, assent, credulity, certitude, reliance.

    Antonyms doubt*, skepticism*, distrust. *

  2. A formal system of beliefs

    religion, creed, doctrine, dogma, belief, tenet, revelation, credo, gospel, profession, confession, conviction, persuasion, canon, principle, piety, church, orthodoxy, worship, theism, teaching, theology, doxy, decalogue, denomination, cult, sect. For specific faiths see church 3, religion 2. See syn. study at belief.

bad faith

insincerity, duplicity, infidelity; see dishonesty.

break faith

be disloyal, abandon, fail; see betray 1.

good faith

sincerity, honor, trustworthiness; see honesty 1.

in faith

indeed, in fact, in reality; see really 1.

keep faith

be loyal, adhere, follow; see support 2.

faith Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • profess: This person who professed faith never bears any fruit.
  • lose: Many voters across the EU seem to have lost faith in the European project, " the joint report begins.
  • restore: This is a piece of bad news for the government which may at least serve to restore some public faith in the judicial system.
  • undermine: Poor care, even for short periods can seriously undermine faith in community services and result in hospital admissions.
  • embrace: Our law has been reluctant to embrace good faith fully.

Converse of subject

justify: Norman Shepherdâs concern is to stress that we are only justified by an obedient faith.

Adjective modifier

  • Catholic: These songs and hymns, which touch the core of Catholic faith, provide a resource for assemblies, Mass and class work.
  • religious: Tatchell: I gave up my religious faith for a number of reasons.
  • blind: This is not blind faith, this is not cult conditioning or the adherence to doctrine.
  • Islamic: The Islamic Council claim that the defendants were in breach of the above law in that they vilified the Islamic faith.
  • bad: Will we see an increase in game playing or parties acting in bad faith?

Modifies a noun

  • community: The focus this month is on the work of the faith communities for peace with justice.
  • school: Currently about 30 % of schools, roughly 7,000 out of a total of 22,000 are faith schools.

Noun used with modifier

  • multi: Britain is a multi faith society in which everyone has the right to religious freedom.
  • Buddhist: In line with the Buddhist faith, people are given new names when they die.
  • naive: It is interesting to read, in Snow's AAAS address, his naïve faith in scientific certainty.
  • pagan: The author explains the ancient nature of the Lithuanian pagan faith and its mythology, which had its origins in the Upper Paleolithic period.

Preposition: in

resurrection: People, for example, were losing faith in the Resurrection of Christ.