flagrant
adjective
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In Latin, flagrare means "to burn," and flagrans means "burning" or "fiery hot" (both literally and figuratively). When it was first used in the 16th century, flagrant had the same meaning as flagrans, but by the 18th century it had acquired its current meaning of "conspicuously bad." Some usage commentators warn against using flagrant and blatant interchangeably. While both words denote conspicuousness, they are not exact synonyms. Blatant is usually used of some person, action, or thing that attracts disapproving attention (e.g., "a blatant grammatical error"). Flagrant is used similarly, but usually carries a heavier weight of violated morality (e.g., "flagrant abuse of public office").
Synonyms
Examples of flagrant in a Sentence
Ben Morse, CNN, 24 June 2024
Angel was given a foul, one of her five fouls on the night, but after further review, officials issued the young star a flagrant foul.
—Marc Griffin, VIBE.com, 17 June 2024
Angel Reese is addressing her flagrant foul against Caitlin Clark that had social media talking after their June 16 matchup.
—Danielle Jennings, Peoplemag, 17 June 2024
This time, there was no doubt on the intent, and a flagrant foul was immediately called.
—Bruce Haring, Deadline, 16 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for flagrant 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'flagrant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Flagrant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flagrant. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
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flagrant
adjective
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