faithful1 adjectivefaithful2 noun
faithfulfaith‧ful1 /ˈfeɪθfəl/ ●●○ adjective 
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a faithful reconstruction of a Anglo-Saxon village
- His faithful dog Hachiko waited for him.
- His model cars are faithful copies of the originals.
- I've always been faithful, I've never cheated on you, not once!
- I did my best to give a faithful account of what happened.
- It's a faithful reproduction of the original picture.
- Many older people still remain faithful to the party.
- Mary's always been a trustworthy and faithful friend.
- The band still has a large number of faithful followers.
- The majority of Mark's supporters remained faithful throughout the crisis.
- The survey found that 39% of British women are faithful to one partner over a lifetime.
- This is a faithful interpretation of Shakespeare's original text.
- Furthermore, most of these people are among the most faithful newspaper and magazine readers.
- He feels his faithful services are not valued, and he longs for death.
- If most women had their way, men would be as faithful as albatrosses.
- The characters are one-dimensional, and none of the action is faithful to any psychological motivation.
- The one companion to whom he was unswervingly faithful and attentive was his typewriter.
THESAURUS
continuing to support a person, party, belief etc for a long time: · his long and faithful service to the party· his faithful servant· He remained faithful to his fatherland right to the end.· She was one of the party’s most faithful and hard-working members.
supporting a particular person, party, set of beliefs, etc – used especially about someone you can can trust and depend on to support you: · a loyal friend· loyal party members· The 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.
strongly supporting someone or something because you admire them, love them, or enjoy what they do: · the author’s devoted fans· her devoted husband
[only before noun] a staunch supporter, defender, or allyis very loyal, in spite of problems or difficulties: · He is a staunch supporter of the president.· a staunch defender of civil liberties· the US’s staunchest ally
[usually before noun] a steadfast friend or supporter is very loyal. Also used about someone’s support or service: · Lewis 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.
faithful and loyal to someone, or to your beliefs, principles etc, even if there are problems: · In 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.
feeling a lot of love and respect for your country: · Americans are very patriotic.· His speech was full of patriotic rhetoric.
Longman Language Activatorwhen someone has sex only with their husband, girlfriend etc someone who is faithful only has sex with their husband, girlfriend etc: · I've always been faithful, I've never cheated on you, not once!faithful to: · The survey found that 39% of British women are faithful to one partner over a lifetime.
an exact description/translation/copy completely correct because all the details are true: · The witness tried to give an accurate description of what she had seen.· accurate financial forecasts
an exact copy, model etc of something is like it in every possible way: · an exact replica of a 900-year-old Buddhist shrine· I can't remember her exact words, but this is the gist of what she said.exact likeness (=use this about a painting or drawing of someone that looks very much like that person): · It's not an exact likeness, but it's recognisable as my father.exact same spoken: · She's wearing the exact same dress I bought last week!
a literal translation gives the exact meaning of a word, or each word in a sentence, instead of translating the word or whole sentence in a natural way: · The literal meaning of the Yiddish word 'mensch' is 'person'. · It's rare to use a literal translation of a film title when it is sold abroad.
if you repeat, copy, or translate something word for word , you use the exact words that are in it: · He asked me to repeat word for word the instructions he'd just given me.· The footnote gave a word for word translation of the quotation.
a faithful copy of something is as close as possible to the original: · His model cars are faithful copies of the originals.· This is a faithful interpretation of Shakespeare's original text.· a faithful reconstruction of an Anglo-Saxon village
exact and correct according to accepted rules or an accepted system: · Dates must be listed in strict chronological order.· Under a strict interpretation of the rules, she would be suspended.· In the strictest sense of the word, all popular fiction is 'romantic'.
formal repeating the exact words that were spoken or written: · The government released a verbatim transcript of the pilot's last words.· He lifted passages almost verbatim from an earlier essay he had written.
loyal someone who is loyal can be trusted to always give help or support to their friends, their country, their political party etc: · Many of the party's loyal supporters have begun to question his leadership.· She has been a good and loyal friend to me.loyal to: · The army remained loyal to the president.
someone who is faithful continues to support or serve someone for a long time: · The band still has a large number of faithful followers.· The majority of Mark's supporters remained faithful throughout the crisis.· His faithful dog Hachiko waited for him.faithful to: · Many older people still remain faithful to the party.
: devoted follower/friend/husband etc a follower, friend etc who is very loyal to a person because they care deeply about them or because they enjoy or support what they do: · He described Mr Edwards as "a good man and a devoted husband."· Thousands of devoted fans waited in the rain for the group to arrive.
: staunch supporter/ally/friend etc someone who continues to be a strong supporter or a good friend in spite of problems or difficulties: · The US has been a staunch ally of ours for many years now.· He has been a staunch supporter of the Liberal Party for over thirty years.
to give support to a friend or country that is in difficulty: · I was lucky that my family all stuck by me when I was in prison.· She said she would stand by him whatever happened.· They were supposed to be our allies but they didn't stand by us when war broke out.
to be loyal to someone, especially a close friend or someone you love - used especially in stories: · You've been true to me all these years. How can I reward you?· They would remain true to their old friend no matter what happened.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY
a faithful friend years of faithful service to the company He remained faithful to his principles to the last. a faithful reproduction of the original pictureCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a faithful friend years of faithful service to the company He remained faithful to his principles to the last. a faithful reproduction of the original picture (=strong supporters of a party)· His policies appeal to the party faithful.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· He remained a faithful friend ofthe West until his overthrow in May 1997.· In this happenstance, faithful friend Lobo, these white ladies would pay anything for milk.· And like a faithful friend, she had carried out these instructions to the letter; with one unforeseen eventuality.· Orestes here and his faithful friend?
· Yes, you were always such a faithful man.· Although a faithful man of his own Church, everything was subsumed under these Evangelical essentials.
· Please show some respect to us faithful readers, as this is surely a perfect example of bad business practice!
· To an old and faithful servant of the ultramontane papacy such as Ottaviani, it was all the most absolute madness.· Your faithful servant chokes to death, and you do nothing!· He alone had the key to each quarter: he and his faithful servant Robert alone knew the key to his secret.
· His faithful service was rewarded with a grant of the manor of Ilmington in Warwickshire.· He feels his faithful services are not valued, and he longs for death.· Eventually he was rewarded for his long and faithful service by being placed in the heavens as the constellation of Aquarius.· Ready for another 40 years of faithful service?· Accordingly his faithful service here was rewarded with a Testimonial in October 1966 and a crowd of over 17,000 attended.
WORD FAMILYnounfaithfaithfulness ≠ unfaithfulnessfaithfulfaithlessnessadjectivefaithful ≠ unfaithfulfaithlessadverbfaithfully ≠ unfaithfully
1[usually before noun] 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] 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 picture3if 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 time: · his long and faithful service to the party· his faithful servant· He 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 you: · a loyal friend· loyal party members· The 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 do: · the author’s devoted fans· her devoted husbandstaunch [only before noun] a staunch supporter, defender, or allyis very loyal, in spite of problems or difficulties: · He is a staunch supporter of the president.· a staunch defender of civil liberties· the US’s staunchest allysteadfast [usually before noun] a steadfast friend or supporter is very loyal. Also used about someone’s support or service: · Lewis 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 problems: · In 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 country: · Americans are very patriotic.· His speech was full of patriotic rhetoric.faithful1 adjectivefaithful2 noun
faithfulfaithful2 noun EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- There were only a handful of old faithfuls at the meeting.
- Some of the faithful have a theory.
- Three points became one, but at least the faithful have something to cheer about and the revival might just be under way.
- What has got into these old faithfuls?
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Hess still has the support of the party faithful. A handful of old faithfuls came to the meeting.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
Hess still has the support of the party faithful. A handful of old faithfuls came to the meeting. (=strong supporters of a party)· His policies appeal to the party faithful.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· What has got into these old faithfuls?
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY
- Eighty percent of the party faithful will vote for whatever candidate we choose.
- The progressive wing of the Church has encouraged the faithful to press for social reform.
WORD FAMILYnounfaithfaithfulness ≠ unfaithfulnessfaithfulfaithlessnessadjectivefaithful ≠ unfaithfulfaithlessadverbfaithfully ≠ unfaithfully
1the faithful [plural] a)the people who are very loyal to a leader, political party etc and continue to support them: Hess still has the support of the party faithful. b)the people who believe in a religion: church bells calling the faithful to evening prayer2[countable] a loyal follower, supporter, or member: A handful of old faithfuls came to the meeting.