flagrant

Trumps pants, which are constantly on fire, are the most flagrant abuse of the office of president to be ignored ... "
Baron Munchhausen


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flagrant

 
adjective|FLAY-grunt
 
What It Means
 
Something may be described as flagrant if it is conspicuously bad—that is, too bad to be ignored.

flagrant
adjective
fla·;grant ;fl;-gr;nt   also  ;fla-
Synonyms of flagrant
1
: conspicuously offensive
flagrant errors
especially : so obviously inconsistent with what is right or proper as to appear to be a flouting of law or morality
flagrant violations of human rights
2
archaic : fiery hot : burning
flagrantly adverb


Did you know?
A flagrant foul in sports involves no flame or literal heat—it's just too conspicuously bad for referees to ignore—but the roots of flagrant are hot, hot, hot. In Latin, flagr;re means "to burn," and flagrans means "flaming" or "fiery" (both carry meanings relating to literal flames as well as the figurative flames of passion). When it was first used in the 16th century, flagrant had the same "flaming, fiery" meaning as flagrans, but by the 18th century it had acquired its current meaning of “conspicuously bad or offensive.” (Another flagr;re descendant in English, conflagration, retained its "fiery" meaning.) Some usage experts warn against using flagrant and blatant interchangeably. While both words apply to noticeable lapses, they are not true synonyms. Blatant (likely from a Latin word meaning “to chatter”) typically describes a person, action, or thing that attracts disapproving attention (e.g., "a blatant grammatical error"), while flagrant carries a heavier connotation of offense often for violated morality (e.g., "flagrant abuse of public office").

Synonyms
blatant
glaring
obvious
Choose the Right Synonym for flagrant

flagrant, glaring, gross, rank mean conspicuously bad or objectionable.

flagrant applies usually to offenses or errors so bad that they can neither escape notice nor be condoned.

flagrant abuse of the office of president
glaring implies painful or damaging obtrusiveness of something that is conspicuously wrong, faulty, or improper.

glaring errors
gross implies the exceeding of reasonable or excusable limits.

gross carelessness
rank applies to what is openly and extremely objectionable and utterly condemned.

rank heresy
Examples of flagrant in a Sentence
flagrant abuse of the law
her flagrant disregard for other people's rights
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Cunningham was called for a flagrant 2 foul and on Wednesday received an additional fine for her role in the skirmish.
—Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2025
His detention has sparked protests across the country from supporters who believe his detention is a flagrant violation of core American values, including the protection of free speech.
—Gloria Pazmino, CNN Money, 16 June 2025
The incident came not long after Sheldon was hit with a flagrant foul for poking Fever star Caitlin Clark in the eye during the third quarter.
—Michael Gallagher, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Aug. 2025
She was called for a flagrant foul on Kayla Thornton when the LSU product whacked the Valkyries forward in the face whilst chasing a loose ball.
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 28 June 2025

Word History
Etymology
borrowed from Latin flagrant-, flagrans "flaming, fiery, (of a person) burning with desire, passionate," present participle of flagr;re "to be ablaze, burn, shine, burn (with passion, zeal)," probably derivative of an adjective *flagro- "burning," going back to Indo-European *bhl;g-ro-, adjective derivative from the verbal base bhleg- "shine, be bright"; (sense 1) after in flagrante delicto and parallel Latin phrases — more at phlegm

Note: The metaphorical notion of a misdeed as "flaming" when the offender is caught in the act first appears in Latin in the Code of Justinian (sixth century), flagrans being conjoined there with cr;men "crime." Conjoining of flagrans with delictum "misdeed, offense" is perhaps no earlier than the fifteenth century. — The vocalism of flagr;re is traditionally explained as "reduced grade" (German Reduktionstufe, more traditionally schwa secundum "second schwa"), where zero-grade—here *bhl;g- as evidenced in Latin fulg;re "to shine brightly" (see fulgent)—is reduced to *bhleg- before the suffix -ro-. P. Schrijver gives the more specific suggestion that a in flagr;re is the regular outcome of the sequence *R;DC in Italic and Celtic, where R is any resonant, D is a plain voiced stop, and C any consonant (The Reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European Laryngeals in Latin, Rodopi, 1991, pp. 477-85). Examples are few, however. Another possibility is frangere "to break, shatter" (see break entry 1), if the nasal present stem is a later development, and *frag- is the result of *bhr;g- plus a consonant (presumably the -t- of nominal derivatives). Alternatively, frang- could be an outcome of *bhreng- in place of *bhr;ng-.

First Known Use
1513, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of flagrant was in 1513
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