First Known Use: circa 1534
Dictionary
egregious
adjective egre·gious \i-ˈgrē-jəs\
: very bad and easily noticed
Full Definition of EGREGIOUS
1
archaic : distinguished
2
: conspicuous; especially : conspicuously bad : flagrant <egregious errors> <egregious padding of the evidence — Christopher Hitchens>
— egre·gious·ly adverb
— egre·gious·ness noun
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Examples of EGREGIOUS
- … the public perception is that too many corporate executives have committed egregious breaches of trust by cooking the books, shading the truth, and enriching themselves with huge stock-option profits while shareholders suffered breathtaking losses. —John A. Byrne et al., Business Week, 6 May 2002
- History cannot be rewritten, but some of its more egregious errors can be corrected—at least in part, at least symbolically. … Or so assume a growing number of human-rights advocates. —Ellis Cose, Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2001
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Origin of EGREGIOUS
Latin egregius, from e- + greg-, grex herd — more at gregarious
Related to EGREGIOUS
- Synonyms
- blatant, conspicuous, flagrant, glaring, gross, obvious, patent, pronounced, rank, striking
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