flagrant

[fley-gruhnt]

adjective

1. shockingly noticeable or evident; obvious; glaring.

   a flagrant error.

2. notorious; scandalous.

   a flagrant crime; a flagrant offender.

   Synonyms: egregious, monstrous, disgraceful

3. Archaic.,  blazing, burning, or glowing.

flagrant

/ ˈfleɪɡrənt /

adjective

1. openly outrageous

2. obsolete,  burning or blazing

Other Word Forms

• flagrancy noun
• flagrance noun
• flagrantness noun
• flagrantly adverb
• nonflagrance noun
• nonflagrancy noun
• nonflagrant adjective
• nonflagrantly adverb
• unflagrant adjective
• unflagrantly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of flagrant¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin flagrant- (stem of flagrāns ), present participle of flagrāre “to burn”; -ant

Word History and Origins

Origin of flagrant¹

C15: from Latin flagrāre to blaze, burn

Synonym Study

Flagrant, glaring, gross, outrageous, rank are adjectives suggesting extreme offensiveness. Flagrant, with a root sense of flaming or flaring, suggests evil or immorality so evident that it cannot be ignored or overlooked: a flagrant violation of the law. Glaring, meaning “shining brightly,” is similar to flagrant in emphasizing conspicuousness but usually lacks the imputation of immorality: a glaring error in computing the interest. Gross, which basically signifies excessive size, is even more negative in implication than the foregoing two terms, suggesting a mistake or impropriety of major proportions: a gross miscarriage of justice. Outrageous describes acts so far beyond the limits of decent behavior or accepted standards as to be totally insupportable: an outrageous abuse of the public trust. Rank, with its suggestion of bad odor, describes open offensiveness of the most objectionable kind, inviting total and unalloyed disapprobation: rank dishonesty, stinking to high heaven; Only rank stupidity would countenance such a step.

Example Sentences

But he rejected the idea that hotel owner Somani Hotels had shown a "flagrant or persistent abuse of planning control".

Read more on BBC

The FTDES, which is active on migration and environmental issues, denounced "a flagrant attempt to subjugate free voices who have refused to swear allegiance" to the government.

Read more on Barron's

Komasa knows authoritarianism in its most flagrant, brutal forms, but his new film “Anniversary” imagines a scenario in which fascism doesn’t stomp in, jackbooted, but creeps, pretty and ladylike, on kitten-heeled feet.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Opening the council's case, Philip Coppel KC said the hotel was breaching planning controls in a "serious, flagrant and continuing" way.

Read more on BBC

"If true, these disgraceful allegations that Hungary sought to spy on the EU itself further demonstrate Viktor Orban's flagrant disregard for the rule of law across the Union," said the group's EU director Nick Aiossa.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• atrocious 
• bold 
• brazen 
• conspicuous 
• disgraceful 
• egregious 
• glaring 
• heinous 
• notorious 
• obvious 
• outrageous 
• shameful 
• shameless 
• shocking 
• undisguised