flagrant

[ fley-gruhnt ]

adjective

1. shockingly noticeable or evident; obvious; glaring:

   a flagrant error.

2. notorious; scandalous:

   a flagrant crime; a flagrant offender.

   Synonyms: egregious, monstrous, disgraceful

3. Archaic. blazing, burning, or glowing.

flagrant

/ ˈfleɪɡrənt /

adjective

1. openly outrageous
2. obsolete.
   burning or blazing

Derived Forms

• ˈflagrancy, noun
• ˈflagrantly, adverb

Other Words From

• flagran·cy flagrance flagrant·ness noun
• flagrant·ly adverb
• non·flagrance noun
• non·flagran·cy noun
• non·flagrant adjective
• non·flagrant·ly adverb
• un·flagrant adjective
• un·flagrant·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of flagrant¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin flagrant- (stem of flagrāns ), present participle of flagrāre “to burn”; -ant

Word History and Origins

Origin of flagrant¹

C15: from Latin flagrāre to blaze, burn

Synonym Study

Flagrant, glaring, gross, outrageous, rank are adjectives suggesting extreme offensiveness. Flagrant, with a root sense of flaming or flaring, suggests evil or immorality so evident that it cannot be ignored or overlooked: a flagrant violation of the law. Glaring, meaning “shining brightly,” is similar to flagrant in emphasizing conspicuousness but usually lacks the imputation of immorality: a glaring error in computing the interest. Gross, which basically signifies excessive size, is even more negative in implication than the foregoing two terms, suggesting a mistake or impropriety of major proportions: a gross miscarriage of justice. Outrageous describes acts so far beyond the limits of decent behavior or accepted standards as to be totally insupportable: an outrageous abuse of the public trust. Rank, with its suggestion of bad odor, describes open offensiveness of the most objectionable kind, inviting total and unalloyed disapprobation: rank dishonesty, stinking to high heaven; Only rank stupidity would countenance such a step.

Example Sentences

They were done to give a thin patina of ersatz legitimacy to what is otherwise flagrant sexual assault.

From The Daily Beast

For all its flagrant indiscretions, though, FIFA has never run afoul of the law.

From The Daily Beast

For Ankara to allow a suicide bomber through to launch a flagrant attack at this moment also would appear to be odd timing.

From The Daily Beast

Flagrant anti-Semitism fell out of favor and was replaced by a closeted, unspoken bigotry.

From The Daily Beast

Valderrama's modest career is in direct contrast to his flagrant lack of modesty.

From The Daily Beast

She would receive money again for perpetuating it in a more flagrant form.

From Project Gutenberg

His impossibility appeared more flagrant in the face of Laura's marvellous achievement.

From Project Gutenberg

But even I was driven to protest against such flagrant unfairness. '

From Project Gutenberg

When the thing happened it appeared to be a flagrant and indubitable case of treachery; everyone was speaking of it.

From Project Gutenberg

So far as I could learn from my informant, the case was one of flagrant persecution, with no culpable occasion behind it.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• atrocious
• bold
• brazen
• conspicuous
• disgraceful
• egregious
• glaring
• heinous
• notorious
• obvious
• outrageous
• shameful
• shameless
• shocking
• undisguised