flagrante delicto

[ fluh-gran-tee di-lik-toh ]

adverb

1. Law. in the very act of committing the offense.
2. while having illicit sex with someone.

flagrante delicto

/ fləˈɡræntɪ dɪˈlɪktəʊ /

adverb

1. See in flagrante delicto

Word History and Origins

Origin of flagrante delicto¹

From Latin: literally, “while the offense is (still) burning”

Example Sentences

Bats’ nocturnal and elusive lifestyle also means scientists rarely have the chance to observe them in flagrante delicto.

From Science Magazine

Another triptych, a 2019 painting titled “Sappho,” shows two women in flagrante delicto in the backseat of a vehicle that explodes with riotous nature.

From Los Angeles Times

Edie said she’d not only walked in on Fuzzy in flagrante delicto, resulting in him slapping her and shooting her full of tranquilizers, but was herself subjected to his sexual advances when she was as young as 7.

From New York Times

It was a scene-stealing role, and Caan took advantage of it, playing the character’s many memorable moments to the hilt: his memorable in flagrante delicto entrance, his mocking “bada bing!” moment with Michael, that street-fight humiliation of his brother-in-law and, most of all, his shocking, bullet-ridden last gasps on the Jones Beach Causeway.

From New York Times

“You are in flagrante delicto, sir.”

From New York Times