meaning - How do you usually interpret "egregious"?


OED's entry about "egregious" indicates it can mean remarkable in both good and bad ways. Vocabulary.com's entry, in contrast, emphasizes to not use it for meaning positively outstanding. How do you usually interpret and use "egregious"?



Answer



egregious has a negative connotation, and is usually used to connote severe examples of evil or wrongdoing. A look at it's synonyms should give you a flavor of the word.


egre·gious adjective: very bad and easily noticed (archaic: distinguished); conspicuous; especially: conspicuously bad, flagrant:



egregious padding of the evidence — Christopher Hitchens>


...the public perception is that too many corporate executives have committed egregious breaches of trust by cooking the books, shading the truth, and enriching themselves with huge stock-option profits while shareholders suffered breathtaking losses. —John A. Byrne et al., Business Week, 6 May 2002



Synonyms: blatant, conspicuous, flagrant, glaring, gross, obvious, patent, pronounced, rank, striking.


Who is a blatantly respected scientist?


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