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flagrant

/ˈfleɪgrənt/
/ˈfleɪgrɪnt/
IPA guide

Something flagrant is bad — so bad you can't ignore it. A flagrant foul in sports might send you to the bench, and a flagrant violation of the law might send you to the slammer.

The current meaning of the adjective flagrant — "obviously offensive or disgraceful" — is thought to derive from the Latin legal term in flagrante delicto, which literally meant "with fire still blazing" and is used figuratively to describe a situation in which the criminal is caught red handed. Aside from a flagrant abuse of the law, the word can also be used to describe anything that is obviously bad — like flagrant bad taste or flagrant abuse of the rules of grammar.

Definitions of flagrant
  1. adjective
    conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible
    flagrant violation of human rights”
    conspicuous
    obvious to the eye or mind
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