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

The land of a thousand hills, Rwanda’s called—an egregious undercount.

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Beckett was famously unforgiving when it came to fiddling with his works; his estate would not likely countenance egregious diversions from the “Godot” text.

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In an interview with the Journal, the now-retired Hill called the bank disclosures “so egregious.”

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County fires were “egregious,” cautioning people about the damage calculator.

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Many victims have told The Times that they suffered egregious abuse decades ago at the hands of probation staff, who they said would molest them and threaten them with solitary confinement if they told higher-ups.

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Related Words

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