egregious

[ih-gree-juhs, -jee-uhs]

adjective

1. extraordinary in some bad way; glaring; flagrant.

   an egregious mistake; an egregious liar.

   Synonyms: shocking, notorious, outrageous, gross
   Antonyms: unnoticeable, minor, moderate, tolerable

2. Archaic.,  distinguished or eminent.

egregious

/ -dʒɪəs, ɪˈɡriːdʒəs /

adjective

1. outstandingly bad; flagrant

   an egregious lie

2. archaic,  distinguished; eminent

Other Word Forms

• egregiously adverb
• egregiousness noun
• nonegregious adjective
• nonegregiously adverb
• nonegregiousness noun
• unegregious adjective
• unegregiously adverb
• unegregiousness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of egregious¹

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin ēgregius “preeminent, outstanding,” equivalent to ē- + greg-, stem of grēx “flock” + -ius adjective suffix; e- ¹, -ous

Word History and Origins

Origin of egregious¹

C16: from Latin ēgregius outstanding (literally: standing out from the herd), from ē- out + grex flock, herd

Example Sentences

“But the thing that’s most egregious to me is the message it sends to these children who are in the school that was created in my father’s name, at the site where he was assassinated.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"Their arrest, prosecution and conviction for harassment were an egregious affront on those rights and they are delighted to have finally been exonerated."

Read more on BBC

Attorneys for Saldana argued in the lawsuit that it was the “egregious misconduct” of a Baldwin Park detective that led to the wrongful conviction in 1990.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The president, based on his GB News interview, is clearly hurt by what he sees as an "egregious" edit, and he has now apparently upped the amount he says he will sue the corporation for.

Read more on BBC

"This was so egregious," he said of the video edit.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• atrocious 
• deplorable 
• extreme 
• flagrant 
• glaring 
• grievous 
• heinous 
• intolerable 
• nefarious 
• scandalous 
• shocking