egregious

IPA/ɪˈɡriːdʒiəs/
KK[ɪɡrˈidʒəs]IPA/ɪˈɡriːdʒiəs/

egregious — adjective

  • egregiouspositive
  • more egregiouscomparative
  • most egregioussuperlative

1. so badly wrong or offensive that everyone notices it at once

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

so badly wrong or offensive that everyone notices it at once

Example

The report exposed an egregious error in the hospital's billing system.

collocation: egregious error

Parents called the coach's egregious remark cruel and deeply unfair.

pattern: call something egregious

Common collocations
  • egregious error
  • egregious mistake
  • egregious abuse
  • egregious fraud
  • egregious waste
  • egregious violation
Synonyms
  • outrageous

    broader and more emotional, stressing the anger or shock a person feels

  • appalling

    strong and serious, often used for awful conditions or suffering

  • flagrant

    more strongly tied to open rule-breaking or public misconduct

  • blatant

    focuses on how obvious and unhidden the fault is

Antonyms
  • acceptable

    within normal or allowed limits

  • admirable

    good enough to deserve approval rather than criticism

Grammar Patterns

an egregious error

egregious abuse

be egregious

Usage Note

Most often modifies errors, lies, abuse, fraud, or unfair treatment when the speaker wants to stress that the fault is obvious and hard to excuse. It is stronger and more formal than simply calling something bad.

Common Mistakes

The team got an egregious result and celebrated all night.
The team got an excellent result and celebrated all night.
'egregious' is strongly negative, so it cannot be used to praise something.

Word family

  • egregiously
    adverbC2
  • egregiousness
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

'Egregious' is a formal word for conduct, mistakes, or decisions that stand out as shockingly bad. 'Outrageous' is broader and more emotional, often stressing the anger people feel. 'Appalling' is also strong, but it can describe terrible conditions or suffering, not only clear wrongdoing. 'Blatant' focuses on how obvious something is, especially when nobody even tries to hide it. 'Flagrant' is closest in formal tone, but it is most common with open breaches of rules, laws, or rights. A rude remark may be outrageous, a filthy hospital ward may be appalling, and a company's obvious safety breach may be flagrant or egregious when the fault is impossible to excuse.

egregious ↗outrageous ↗appallingblatantflagrant ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • egregious error
  • egregious abuse
  • egregious fraud
  • egregious violation

Adverbs

  • especially egregious
  • truly egregious
  • most egregious

Phrases

  • be judged egregious
  • describe something as egregious

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Egregious comes from the Latin word egregius, which first described someone or something that stood out in a good way. In English, the word later shifted through ironic use and came to mean exceptionally bad instead. That history explains why it still suggests standing apart from the rest, but now in a sharply negative sense.