flagrant

adjective

fla·​grant ˈflā-grənt 

also ˈfla-

1

: conspicuously offensive

flagrant errors

especially : so obviously inconsistent with what is right or proper as to appear to be a flouting of law or morality

flagrant violations of human rights

2

archaic : fiery hot : burning

flagrantly adverb

Did you know?

A flagrant foul in sports involves no flame or literal heat—it's just too conspicuously bad for referees to ignore—but the roots of flagrant are hot, hot, hot. In Latin, flagrāre means "to burn," and flagrans means "flaming" or "fiery" (both carry meanings relating to literal flames as well as the figurative flames of passion). When it was first used in the 16th century, flagrant had the same "flaming, fiery" meaning as flagrans, but by the 18th century it had acquired its current meaning of “conspicuously bad or offensive.” (Another flagrāre descendant in English, conflagration, retained its "fiery" meaning.) Some usage experts warn against using flagrant and blatant interchangeably. While both words apply to noticeable lapses, they are not true synonyms. Blatant (likely from a Latin word meaning “to chatter”) typically describes a person, action, or thing that attracts disapproving attention (e.g., "a blatant grammatical error"), while flagrant carries a heavier connotation of offense often for violated morality (e.g., "flagrant abuse of public office").

Synonyms of flagrant

• blatant
• glaring
• obvious

Choose the Right Synonym for flagrant

flagrant, glaring, gross, rank mean conspicuously bad or objectionable.

flagrant applies usually to offenses or errors so bad that they can neither escape notice nor be condoned.

flagrant abuse of the office of president

glaring implies painful or damaging obtrusiveness of something that is conspicuously wrong, faulty, or improper.

glaring errors

gross implies the exceeding of reasonable or excusable limits.

gross carelessness

rank applies to what is openly and extremely objectionable and utterly condemned.

rank heresy

Examples of flagrant in a Sentence

flagrant abuse of the law

her flagrant disregard for other people's rights

Recent Examples on the Web

Brunson and his coach, Mike Brown, were heated, believing the French star should have been whistled for a flagrant foul. —Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 14 June 2026

Both Brunson and Knicks coach Mike Brown screamed at the referees for not calling a foul on Wembanyama, which could have been ruled a flagrant closeout. —Dan Zaksheske, FOXNews.com, 14 June 2026

Wembanyama then earned his third flagrant point of the playoffs when he was called for a flagrant 1 foul in Game 4 for catching Towns in the chin with an elbow. —Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 14 June 2026

On another possession, Jose Alvarado nearly picked up a flagrant foul. —Marcus Thompson Ii, New York Times, 11 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin flagrant-, flagrans "flaming, fiery, (of a person) burning with desire, passionate," present participle of flagrāre "to be ablaze, burn, shine, burn (with passion, zeal)," probably derivative of an adjective *flagro- "burning," going back to Indo-European *b^hl̥g-ro-, adjective derivative from the verbal base b^hleg- "shine, be bright"; (sense 1) after in flagrante delicto and parallel Latin phrases — more at phlegm

Note: The metaphorical notion of a misdeed as "flaming" when the offender is caught in the act first appears in Latin in the Code of Justinian (sixth century), flagrans being conjoined there with crīmen "crime." Conjoining of flagrans with delictum "misdeed, offense" is perhaps no earlier than the fifteenth century. — The vocalism of flagrāre is traditionally explained as "reduced grade" (German Reduktionstufe, more traditionally schwa secundum "second schwa"), where zero-grade—here *b^hl̥g- as evidenced in Latin fulgēre "to shine brightly" (see fulgent)—is reduced to *b^hl_eg- before the suffix -ro-. P. Schrijver gives the more specific suggestion that a in flagrāre is the regular outcome of the sequence *R̥DC in Italic and Celtic, where R is any resonant, D is a plain voiced stop, and C any consonant (The Reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European Laryngeals in Latin, Rodopi, 1991, pp. 477-85). Examples are few, however. Another possibility is frangere "to break, shatter" (see break entry 1), if the nasal present stem is a later development, and *frag- is the result of *b^hr̥g- plus a consonant (presumably the -t- of nominal derivatives). Alternatively, frang- could be an outcome of *b^hr_eng- in place of *b^hr̥ng-.

First Known Use

1513, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for flagrant

• fragrant
• vagrant

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Kids Definition

flagrant

adjective

fla·​grant ˈflā-grənt 

: so bad as to be impossible to overlook : outrageous

a flagrant lie

flagrantly adverb