egregious

adjective egre·gious \ i-ˈgrē-jəs \

|Updated on: 18 Jun 2018

Examples: egregious in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of egregious

1 : conspicuous; especially : conspicuously bad : flagrant

egregious errors

egregious padding of the evidence
—Christopher Hitchens

2 archaic : distinguished

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egregiously

adverb

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egregiousness

noun

See egregious defined for English-language learners

See egregious defined for kids

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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

Jackie looked around the parking lot to see how egregious her fault might be in his eyes.

— chicago tribune, chicagotribune.com, "Algren Award finalist: "Olivia" by Sophia Veltfort," 2 June 2018
Defense attorneys pointed out that that prosecutors are asking for prison terms considerably more harsh than in more egregious bank fraud cases elsewhere in the country.

— jeff manning, OregonLive.com, "Feds seek 8-year sentence for former Bank of Oswego CEO Dan Heine," 31 May 2018
Unguarded remarks about the leader or one of his predecessors may lead to banishment from Pyongyang or, in more egregious cases, being carted off to a prison camp—sometimes with one’s family in tow.

— The Economist, "What life is like for ordinary North Koreans," 26 May 2018
But deploying staff for personal needs clearly violates House ethics rules, and in egregious cases, could lead to prosecution for misappropriations of public funds.

— ed kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "Embattled Congressman Accused of Turning Staff Into His Personal Servants," 25 May 2018
Back in January, the world learned just how egregious the gender pay gap can be when news broke that actress Michelle Williams earned less than 1% of her co-star Mark Wahlberg for reshoots of the film All the Money in the World.

— valentina zarya, Fortune, "Michelle Williams Was 'Shattered' When She Found Out Her Pay Was 1% of Mark Wahlberg's," 8 May 2018
This means Amann contends the statements against him are so egregious that damages are presumed and do not have to be proven.

— michael mccann, SI.com, "Could CM Punk and Colt Cabana Be Found Culpable for Defamation?," 31 May 2018
Initially, this dearth of new ideas isn’t so egregious; plenty of stories have aped Blade Runner for slick, sci-fi thrills and still managed to be insightful or at least entertaining.

— andrew webster, The Verge, "Detroit: Become Human review: a beautiful vision of the future gets stuck in the past," 24 May 2018
Not every offense will be as egregious as an open bathrobe, but that doesn’t mean bullying, unwelcome advances, hostile comments, and inappropriate jokes don’t exist on the same spectrum.

— diana budds, Curbed, "How architecture can rebuild itself post #MeToo," 21 May 2018

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.