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
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
The most egregious came from Michael Robinson of the NFL Network, who said that, in relation to Hurts’ current injury, Hurts seemed to be saying, “If everybody’s hurt, then I’m hurt too.”
From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2026
The failure to bring in Rojas was especially egregious.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
"This is no time to return anyone forcibly to a country plagued by egregious human rights violations and abuses," UN rights chief Volker Turk said Tuesday.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
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
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
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
