blatantly
Americanadverb
-
in a shameless or conspicuous way; flagrantly.
While many of those workers are joining unions, many others are being blatantly ripped off.
-
in a way that is tastelessly loud, garish, or obvious.
She dyes her hair blond, but leaves her dark brown roots blatantly visible.
Etymology
Origin of blatantly
Explanation
When you do something blatantly, you do it obviously, without trying to hide it. You might blatantly lie to your boss if you don't care about getting in trouble. Something done or said blatantly is bold and shameless. You might be doing something bad, but if you're doing it blatantly you're not worried about repercussions. In 1596, the poet Edmund Spenser invented the word blatant, using it to describe a slanderous beast. In the 1600s blatantly meant offensively loud, and by the late 1800s it had its current meaning of "conspicuously, obviously." A similar word is flagrantly, but you'd use it to mean "shockingly," while blatantly is closer to "obnoxiously."
Vocabulary lists containing blatantly
The Crucible
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The Wishing Spell
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Wit, Wisdom, AND Vocabulary from Those We Lost in 2015
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Numerous rights groups urged MPs to reject the law, saying adopting it "would blatantly violate Kazakhstan's international human rights commitments," the International Partnership for Human Rights said in a statement.
From Barron's • Nov. 12, 2025
All of this is blatantly illegal in the eyes of many experts, with the U.N.’s human rights chief Volker Türk saying, “These attacks – and their mounting human cost – are unacceptable.”
From Salon • Nov. 5, 2025
Perched in his art-filled château in the south of France, the British expatriate spent years hurling invectives at, falling out with or blatantly undermining an astonishing number of people.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025
“Ray J’s public statements are blatantly false,” the lawsuit says.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 2, 2025
In March, I began to notice people pointing at me as I walked by in the hallway, ignoring me when I tried to talk to them, and blatantly not believing things I said.
From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
