egregious

American  

[ih-gree-juhs, -jee-uhs] / ɪˈgri dʒəs, -dʒi əs /

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.

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egregious British  

/ -dʒɪəs, ɪˈɡriːdʒəs /

adjective

1. outstandingly bad; flagrant

   an egregious lie

2. archaic distinguished; eminent

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Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of egregious

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

Explanation

Something that is egregious stands out, but not in a good way — it means "really bad or offensive." If you make an egregious error during a championship soccer match, your coach might bench you for the rest of the game. An egregious error is so bad that it might not be forgivable. Some synonyms are appalling and intolerable. The word has made a 180-degree turn from its original sense in Latin, when it meant "exceptionally good." Word historians have speculated that the negative usage was originally meant to be ironic, but it is the only sense that has survived. Be careful not to use it to mean "outstanding," since no one wants to be called egregious.

Example Sentences

Van Dyke’s arrest signals that U.S. authorities won’t ignore allegations of egregious behavior on the platforms, even as the Trump administration has otherwise taken a largely laissez-faire approach to prediction markets.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

But it’s hard to deny that, at least in the egregious cases of Swalwell and Gonzales, swift justice needed to be served, and was.

From Slate • Apr. 16, 2026

The 47-year-old denies all wrongdoing, and has previously said the allegations against him - which have not yet been assessed at a criminal standard - are "egregious" and "spiteful".

From BBC • Apr. 6, 2026

There has been at least one particularly egregious case of AI manipulation by an Airbnb host in the U.S.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026

In 2000, Congress passed the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act, which was meant to address many of the egregious examples of abuse of civil forfeiture.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Related Words

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