Word family noun faith faithfulness ≠ unfaithfulness faithful faithlessness adjective faithful ≠ unfaithful faithless adverb faithfully ≠ unfaithfully
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfaithfulfaith‧ful1 /ˈfeɪθfəl/ ●●○ adjective 1 [usually before noun]FAITHFUL remaining loyal to a particular person, belief, political party etc and continuing to support them a faithful friend years of faithful service to the company our faithful family dog, Bogey a faithful member of the churchfaithful to He remained faithful to his principles to the last.2 [usually before noun]TRUE representing an event or an image in a way that is exactly true or that looks exactly the same SYN exact a faithful account of what had happened a faithful reproduction of the original picture3 SEX/GENDERif you are faithful to your wife, boyfriend etc, you do not have a sexual relationship with anyone elsefaithful to Do you think Bob’s always been faithful to you?4 [only before noun] able to be trusted or depended on SYN reliable my faithful old Toyota —faithfulness noun [uncountable]THESAURUSfaithful continuing to support a person, party, belief etc for a long timehis long and faithful service to the partyhis faithful servantHe remained faithful to his fatherland right to the end. She was one of the party’s most faithful and hard-working members.loyal supporting a particular person, party, set of beliefs, etc – used especially about someone you can can trust and depend on to support youa loyal friendloyal party membersThe women have remained loyal to the goals of the Communist Party.I am not blindly loyal. If I see something that I think is a mistake which could be handled better, I will say so. devoted strongly supporting someone or something because you admire them, love them, or enjoy what they dothe author’s devoted fansher devoted husbandstaunch [only before noun] a staunch supporter, defender, or ally is very loyal, in spite of problems or difficultiesHe is a staunch supporter of the president.a staunch defender of civil libertiesthe US’s staunchest allysteadfast [usually before noun] a steadfast friend or supporter is very loyal. Also used about someone’s support or serviceLewis was a generous and steadfast friend.the steadfast support of America's allies The Queen has set a shining example of steadfast service to her country.true faithful and loyal to someone, or to your beliefs, principles etc, even if there are problemsIn times like these you find out who your true friends are.He remained true to his socialist principles.She promised that she would always be true to him.patriotic feeling a lot of love and respect for your countryAmericans are very patriotic.His speech was full of patriotic rhetoric. Examples from the Corpus
faithful• I did my best to give a faithful account of what happened.• The one companion to whom he was unswervingly faithful and attentive was his typewriter.• If most women had their way, men would be as faithful as albatrosses.• His model cars are faithful copies of the originals.• His faithful dog Hachiko waited for him.• The band still has a large number of faithful followers.• Mary's always been a trustworthy and faithful friend.• I've always been faithful, I've never cheated on you, not once!• This is a faithful interpretation of Shakespeare's original text.• Furthermore, most of these people are among the most faithful newspaper and magazine readers.• a faithful reconstruction of a Anglo-Saxon village• It's a faithful reproduction of the original picture.• He feels his faithful services are not valued, and he longs for death.• The majority of Mark's supporters remained faithful throughout the crisis.• The characters are one-dimensional, and none of the action is faithful to any psychological motivation.• The survey found that 39% of British women are faithful to one partner over a lifetime.• Many older people still remain faithful to the party.faithful friend• Orestes here and his faithful friend?• In this happenstance, faithful friend Lobo, these white ladies would pay anything for milk.• He remained a faithful friend ofthe West until his overthrow in May 1997.• And like a faithful friend, she had carried out these instructions to the letter; with one unforeseen eventuality.faithfulfaithful2 noun 1 → the faithful2 [countable]SUPPORT A PERSON, GROUP, OR PLAN a loyal follower, supporter, or member A handful of old faithfuls came to the meeting.Examples from the Corpus
faithful• There were only a handful of old faithfuls at the meeting.• What has got into these old faithfuls?• Three points became one, but at least the faithful have something to cheer about and the revival might just be under way.• Some of the faithful have a theory.old faithfuls• What has got into these old faithfuls? 