egregious

From Latin prefix e- (“out of”), + grex (“flock”), + English adjective suffix -ous, from Latin suffix -osus (“full of”); reflecting the positive connotations of "standing out from the flock".

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈɡɹiː.dʒəs/, /əˈɡɹiː.dʒi.əs/

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• Rhymes: -iːdʒəs

egregious (comparative more egregious, superlative most egregious)

1. Usually in a negative sense: conspicuous, exceptional, outstanding.

   The student has made egregious errors on the examination.

   • 16thC, Christopher Marlowe, Ignoto,

     I cannot cross my arms, or sigh "Ah me," / "Ah me forlorn!" egregious foppery! / I cannot buss thy fill, play with thy hair, / Swearing by Jove, "Thou art most debonnaire!"

   • c1605, William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well, Act 2, Scene 3,

     My lord, you give me most egregious indignity.

   • 22 March 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Hunger Games

     When the goal is simply to be as faithful as possible to the material—as if a movie were a marriage, and a rights contract the vow—the best result is a skillful abridgment, one that hits all the important marks without losing anything egregious.

   • 2014 January 21, Hermione Hoby, “Julia Roberts interview for August: Osage County – 'I might actually go to hell for this ...': Julia Roberts reveals why her violent, Oscar-nominated performance in August: Osage County made her feel 'like a terrible person' [print version: 'I might actually go to hell for this ...' (18 January 2014, p. R4)]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review)‎:

     She's sitting opposite a window that's gently breezing into her face, wafting her hair into cover-girl perfection ... It's a little moment that seems to encapsulate her appeal: ... her gorgeousness being so egregious that even breezes oblige with their tousle-fanning effects ...

2. Outrageously bad; shocking.
   • 1601, Ben Jonson, Poetaster or The Arraignment: […], London: Printed [by R. Bradock] for M[atthew] L[ownes] […], published 1602, OCLC 316392309, Act III, scene iv:

     Tuc[ca]. […] Can thy Author doe it impudently enough? / Hiſt[rio]. O, I warrant you, Captaine: and ſpitefully inough too; he ha's one of the moſt ouerflowing villanous wits, in Rome. He will ſlander any man that breathes; If he diſguſt him. / Tucca. I'le know the poor, egregious, nitty Raſcall; and he haue ſuch commendable Qualities, I'le cheriſh him: […]

The negative meaning arose in the late 16th century, probably originating in sarcasm. Before that, it meant outstanding in a good way. Webster also gives “distinguished” as an archaic form, and notes that its present form often has an unpleasant connotation (for example, “an egregious error”). It generally precedes such epithets as ass, blunderer, rascal, and rogue. The Italian as well as Spanish cognate egregio has retained a strictly positive sense.

• egregia cum laude
• egregiously