egregious
Americanadjective
-
extraordinary in some bad way; glaring; flagrant.
an egregious mistake; an egregious liar.
- Synonyms:
- shocking, notorious, outrageous, gross
- Antonyms:
- unnoticeable, minor, moderate, tolerable
-
Archaic. distinguished or eminent.
adjective
-
outstandingly bad; flagrant
an egregious lie
-
archaic distinguished; eminent
Other Word Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing egregious
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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.
But all of this is uncharted territory for Congress, as Briffault explained: “The problem is, the laws have never been significantly enforced because they’ve never been violated in such an egregious way,” he said.
From Slate ● Oct. 1, 2026
A particularly egregious example that my husband loves to revisit happened after we had just gotten out of an advance screening of “Avengers: Endgame,” the 2019 blockbuster.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
The US government has described it as the "most egregious criminal act on American soil in modern history".
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Proven incidents of teams circumventing the salary cap are few, with a violation by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2000 the most egregious.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
As they tried to absorb their lessons and experience, and to synchronize their efforts, they lived in constant fear of making any of the many egregious errors Bolles kept pointing out to them.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
