flagrante delicto
Americanadverb
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Law. in the very act of committing the offense.
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while having illicit sex with someone.
adverb
Etymology
Origin of flagrante delicto
From Latin: literally, “while the offense is (still) burning”
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.
Bats’ nocturnal and elusive lifestyle also means scientists rarely have the chance to observe them in flagrante delicto.
From Science Magazine
“You are in flagrante delicto, sir.”
From New York Times
Eventually Emily comes to realize his actual aims, helped there by stumbling upon Sam and Sue in flagrante delicto.
From Salon
When her philandering husband dies in flagrante delicto, she hides the body and concocts a story to get some sweet, sweet attention.
From Los Angeles Times
Its owner, May Mamarbachi, was jailed under Bashar al-Assad for forwarding a cartoon of the dictator in flagrante delicto with the prime minister of Lebanon.
From New York Times
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.
