flagrant

[ fley-gruhnt ]
See synonyms for: flagrantflagranceflagrancyflagrantly on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. shockingly noticeable or evident; obvious; glaring: a flagrant error.

  2. notorious; scandalous: a flagrant crime; a flagrant offender.

  1. Archaic. blazing, burning, or glowing.

Origin of flagrant

1
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin flagrant- (stem of flagrāns ), present participle of flagrāre “to burn”; see -ant

synonym study For flagrant

2. Flagrant, glaring, gross, outrageous, rank are adjectives suggesting extreme offensiveness. Flagrant, with a root sense of flaming or flaring, suggests evil or immorality so evident that it cannot be ignored or overlooked: a flagrant violation of the law. Glaring, meaning “shining brightly,” is similar to flagrant in emphasizing conspicuousness but usually lacks the imputation of immorality: a glaring error in computing the interest. Gross, which basically signifies excessive size, is even more negative in implication than the foregoing two terms, suggesting a mistake or impropriety of major proportions: a gross miscarriage of justice. Outrageous describes acts so far beyond the limits of decent behavior or accepted standards as to be totally insupportable: an outrageous abuse of the public trust. Rank, with its suggestion of bad odor, describes open offensiveness of the most objectionable kind, inviting total and unalloyed disapprobation: rank dishonesty, stinking to high heaven; Only rank stupidity would countenance such a step.

Other words for flagrant

Other words from flagrant

  • fla·gran·cy, flagrance, fla·grant·ness, noun
  • fla·grant·ly, adverb
  • non·fla·grance, noun
  • non·fla·gran·cy, noun
  • non·fla·grant, adjective
  • non·fla·grant·ly, adverb
  • un·fla·grant, adjective
  • un·fla·grant·ly, adverb

Words that may be confused with flagrant

Words Nearby flagrant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use flagrant in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for flagrant

flagrant

/ (ˈfleɪɡrənt) /


adjective
  1. openly outrageous

  2. obsolete burning or blazing

Origin of flagrant

1
C15: from Latin flagrāre to blaze, burn

Derived forms of flagrant

  • flagrancy, flagrance or flagrantness, noun
  • flagrantly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012