# egregious

/ɪˈɡɹidʒəs/ (US) · /ɪɡɹˈiːdʒəs/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/egregious
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 1. shockingly bad

adjective · CEFR C1 · Formal

extremely bad and very easy to notice.

For teachers: outstandingly bad; shocking or flagrant in a way that is impossible to ignore.

- The report was full of egregious errors that made the results useless.
- The company was fined heavily for its egregious violation of safety regulations, which had directly led to the accident.

Usage: Usually placed before the noun it describes.

Teaching tip: While the word originally meant 'distinguished' in a positive way, in modern English it is almost exclusively used to describe something negative.

## Examples

- The report contains several egregious errors.
- The company faced heavy fines after the court found evidence of egregious safety violations at the factory.
- While minor administrative oversights are common, the systematic falsification of data represents an egregious breach of scientific ethics that cannot be overlooked by the committee.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.