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 authors might have adduced more egregious examples than that second one, and from the other party.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

District Judge Phyllis Hamilton ruled that NSO Group's behavior fell short of a "particularly egregious" standard needed to support the jury's calculations on a financial penalty.

Read more on Barron's

She says the most "egregious" marketing was aimed at young women.

Read more on BBC

In forceful speeches during the virtual meeting, participants called the compact “egregiously invalid,” “probably unconstitutional,” “antithetical to principles of academic freedom” and “a Trojan horse.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It was arguably one of the most egregious examples of artificial intelligence being used to take advantage of a music-streaming platform.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

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