adj
egregious
ih-GREE-juhs
adj
1
Shockingly bad or blatant; standing out in a negative way.
"That was an egregious error that cost the company millions."
"The referee made an egregious mistake that decided the match."
How to Use Egregious
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishReally, obviously bad — the kind of mistake or behavior that's impossible to overlook.
Common mistake
Almost always negative in modern English, even though the Latin root originally praised something as exceptional.
Common pairings
egregious error
egregious violation
an egregious lie
Word Forms
more egregious comparative, most egregious superlative
Study it as flashcards or scroll it in Flow — saved to your collection.
Test yourself on “egregious”
A quick quiz — meaning, synonyms & usage
→
Fill the Gap
Can you complete this real example?
That was an _____ error that cost the company millions.
Etymology
From Latin egregius ("outstanding, distinguished"), literally "standing out from the flock" (e- "out of" + grex "flock"). The word once meant "remarkably good," but over time it flipped to mean "remarkably bad."