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?

In Latin, flagrare means "to burn," and flagrans means "burning" or "fiery hot" (both literally and figuratively). When it was first used in the 16th century, flagrant had the same meaning as flagrans, but by the 18th century it had acquired its current meaning of "conspicuously bad." Some usage commentators warn against using flagrant and blatant interchangeably. While both words denote conspicuousness, they are not exact synonyms. Blatant is usually used of some person, action, or thing that attracts disapproving attention (e.g., "a blatant grammatical error"). Flagrant is used similarly, but usually carries a heavier weight of violated morality (e.g., "flagrant abuse of public office").

Synonyms

• 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

By the end of the night, there had been five technical fouls and two flagrant fouls issued, and three players had been ejected. —Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 22 June 2025

Carlon says the incident highlights just how far people will go to get a good photo, as well as their flagrant lack of accountability. —Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 June 2025

Sheldon’s common foul was upgraded to a flagrant foul. —Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 18 June 2025

Mabrey and Clark were both assessed technical fouls for their part in the scuffle, and Sheldon was handed a flagrant 1 penalty, which gave the Fever a free throw and the ball back. —Natasha Dye, People.com, 18 June 2025

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

Kids Definition

flagrant

adjective

fla·​grant ˈflā-grənt 

: so bad as to be impossible to overlook : outrageous

a flagrant lie

flagrantly adverb