Word of the day · 12 June 2026
egregious
/ɪˈɡriːdʒəs/
adjective
Outstandingly bad; shocking in its degree of wrongness.
In a sentence
- An egregious typo on the cover forced a reprint.
- The court called the delay an egregious abuse of process.
- Ignoring the safety lock was an egregious lapse.
In an image
Origin
From Latin egregius (distinguished, standing out from the flock), from ex- (out of) and grex (flock); English later flipped the praise into blame.
History
Egregious once meant remarkably good, standing out from the flock. Over centuries English inverted it toward remarkably bad. Today an egregious mistake is flagrant, not merely noticeable. The old positive sense survives only as a historical curiosity, which is why the word can surprise readers of older texts.
Nearby words
flagrant · glaring · outrageous
Error or misconduct that stands out for the wrong reasons.