egregious

adjective

egre·​gious i-ˈgrē-jəs 

1

: very noticeable

especially : glaringly bad

egregious errors

egregious misconduct

Is there one lie that seems to be the most repeated or, in your view, is the most egregious?

—Meredith Blake

egregious padding of the evidence

—Christopher Hitchens

2

archaic : distinguished

egregiously adverb

egregiousness noun

Did you know?

Some words originally used for animals that gather in flocks have been herded into use for people, too. The Latin word grex means “flock,” “herd,” or “group,” and is the root of several English words, including gregarious, which originally meant “tending to live in a flock, herd, or community rather than alone” but has become a synonym for “sociable,” and egregious. The Latin forebear of egregious, egregius, literally meant “out of the herd” but was used figuratively to mean “outstanding in one’s field.” Egregious entered English in the 16th century with that same, now-obsolete meaning, but over time gained a sense meaning “conspicuously bad” or “flagrant,” possibly as a result of ironic use of its original sense.

Synonyms of egregious

• blatant
• obvious
• glaring
• gross

Examples of egregious in a Sentence

… 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

an egregious example of political bias

the student's theme was marred by a number of egregious errors in spelling

Recent Examples on the Web

Jersey sales was probably one of the most egregious hypocrisies of the NCAA’s amateurism rule for student athletes, which stipulated that players were never to benefit financially from their name, image and likeness — even if others did. —Andrea Williams, Nashville Tennessean, 24 Oct. 2025

Probably not—especially in the case of being stood up, which has always felt particularly egregious. —Anna Holmes, The Atlantic, 20 Oct. 2025

The defendants have pulled every procedural lever to avoid being held responsible for their egregious actions. —Nicole Acosta, PEOPLE, 17 Oct. 2025

This becomes even more egregious when that failure is purposeful, yet not all attorneys are held equal under the law. —Micah Kimball, Denver Post, 16 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin egregius, from e- + greg-, grex herd — more at gregarious

First Known Use

circa 1550, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for egregious

• aegis

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Kids Definition

egregious

adjective

egre·​gious i-ˈgrē-jəs 

: very noticeable

especially : glaringly bad

egregious errors

egregiously adverb

egregiousness noun

Legal Definition

egregious

adjective

egre·​gious i-ˈgrē-jəs 

: extremely and conspicuously bad