flagitious
Americanadjective
-
shamefully wicked, as persons, actions, or times.
-
heinous or flagrant, as a crime; infamous.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of flagitious
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English flagicious, from Latin flāgitiōsus, equivalent to flāgiti(um) “shame, scandal” + -ōsus -ous
Explanation
Flagitious is a fancy and forceful word for "wicked and nasty." As sheriff, it's up to you to bring the flagitious outlaws to justice. Remember that flagitious has three syllables and the "t" is pronounced like "sh" (similar to "ambitious"). Use flagitious when you want to emphasize the extremely brutal nature of a crime or other bad action. The crime scene photos showed the results of actions so flagitious you could not bear to look at them.
Vocabulary lists containing flagitious
Quiz yourself on these words spoken by the man at the center of the "Laurel" / "Yanny" craze!
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Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
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An Essay on Criticism
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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.
To applaud the sadists, voyeurs and media manipulators masquerading as directors, actors and writers is as misguided as were the lives of that flagitious couple.
From Time Magazine Archive
Well knew he the flagitious character of the man who was once more his commanding officer.
From No Quarter! by Reid, Mayne
Here, then, behold these venerable men, collected in a body, enclosed within walls dedicated to holy offices, bewailing the flagitious actions of their country-men, yet devout, composed, earnest in prayer, and incorruptible in purity.
From Brief Reflections relative to the Emigrant French Clergy by Burney, Fanny
Boötes 'mid the Triönes had bent “His wain with sloping pole; when Myrrha came “To her flagitious crime.
From The Metamorphoses of Publius Ovidus Naso in English blank verse Vols. I & II by Howard, J. J.
Hallam indeed has said: "We continually find a more flagitious and undisguised abandonment of moral rules for the sake of some idol of a general principle than can be imputed to The Prince of Machiavel."
From The History of Freedom by Acton, John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, Baron
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.
