egregious

play

adjective egre·gious \ i-ˈgrē-jəs \

Definition of egregious

1 archaic :distinguished

2 :conspicuous; especially :conspicuously bad :flagrant

egregious errors

egregious padding of the evidence
—Christopher Hitchens

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egregiously

adverb

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egregiousness

noun

See egregious defined for English-language learners

See egregious defined for kids

egregious was our Word of the Day on 11/10/2014. Hear the podcast!

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 of egregious from the Web

Flynn has repeatedly said dishonesty is one of the most egregious offenses that can be committed by a member of law enforcement.

— jsonline.com, "Trust damaged between Milwaukee police and community, Department of Justice draft report says," 30 Aug. 2017
Devin Funchess had an egregious fumble on the first play in last week’s game that set much of the tone of the quarter, and backup quarterback Derek Anderson tried to force a ball to Olsen in double-coverage.

— jourdan rodrigue, charlotteobserver, "What to watch when Panthers’ Cam Newton, Curtis Samuel play at Jacksonville," 23 Aug. 2017
The game in 1996, we were told, was a rougher affair, with rules that allowed more contact, and enforcement policies that left egregious, violent fouls unpunished.

— david isaacson, Chicago Reader, "Hard hat, lunch pail: The myth of toughness in Chicago sports," 15 Aug. 2017
Even with low-res video, egregious watermarking, and annoying pop-ups, these videos con their way into millions of views thanks in large part to the lie of their thumbnails.

— eric limer, Popular Mechanics, "The Incredible, Impossible, Fake Airliners of YouTube," 7 Aug. 2017
As Thomas notes, the abuses can be horrifying: This system — where police can seize property with limited judicial oversight and retain it for their own use — has led to egregious and well-chronicled abuses.

— david french, National Review, "America’s Asset-Forfeiture Scam Is Law Enforcement’s Disgrace," 20 July 2017
In fact, the commission allowed former police chief Daryl Gates, whose egregious leadership was essentially responsible for the beating of Rodney King and the riots that followed, to write his own civil service evaluations—all of them positive.

— joe domanick, Los Angeles Magazine, "How the Police Commission Got the LAPD to Buy Into De-Escalation," 13 July 2017
Perhaps the most egregious case today is America’s opioid epidemic, which in 2015 killed 16,000 people from overdoses of prescription drugs, in essence legalised heroin sold as painkillers.

— The Economist, "Without governments, would countries have more inequality, or less?," 13 July 2017
Particularly egregious story here of Fox Sports laying off social media specialist Tyson Winter 27 hours after telling him his job was safe.

— richard deitsch, SI.com, "ESPN finds success turning 30 for 30 into a podcast experience," 2 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'egregious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Egregious derives from the Latin word egregius, meaning "distinguished" or "eminent." In its earliest English uses, egregious was a compliment to someone who had a remarkably good quality that placed him or her eminently above others. That's how English philosopher and theorist Thomas Hobbes used it in flattering a colleague when he remarked, "I am not so egregious a mathematician as you are." Since Hobbes' day, however, the meaning of the word has become noticeably less complimentary, possibly as a result of ironic use of its original sense.