egregious
adjective
Christopher Hitchens 
Did you know?
Some words originally used for animals that gather in flocks have been herded into use for people, too. The Latin word grex means “flock,” “herd,” or “group,” and is the root of several English words, including gregarious, which originally meant “tending to live in a flock, herd, or community rather than alone” but has become a synonym for “sociable,” and egregious. The Latin forebear of egregious, egregius, literally meant “out of the herd” but was used figuratively to mean “outstanding in one’s field.” Egregious entered English in the 16th century with that same, now-obsolete meaning, but over time gained a sense meaning “conspicuously bad” or “flagrant,” possibly as a result of ironic use of its original sense.
Examples of egregious in a Sentence
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
Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 28 July 2025
The judge from Brookline not named Shelley Joseph is next going to order the taxpayers to give billions to the eggheads who despise us and have no qualms whatsoever about engaging in the most egregious kinds of discrimination against us.
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 25 July 2025
The next year, Biden ramped up pressure by adding China to an official list of the world’s most egregious purveyors of illicit drugs.
—Michael Schuman, The Atlantic, 24 July 2025
But the most egregious example is the Department of Corrections.
—Willie Wilson, Chicago Tribune, 17 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for egregious
Cite this Entry
“Egregious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/egregious. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
egregious
adjective
Legal Definition
egregious
adjective
Share