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flagrant

Etymology and origin of the English word flagrant

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈfleɪ.ɡɹənt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin flagrāns (“burning, blazing”),[2][3][4][5][6] the present participle of flagrāre “to burn”,[2][3][4][5][6] perhaps through French flagrant.[3] Etymonline traces it to the Proto-Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- “to shine, flash, burn”.[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Resplendent, glorious (before 1500).[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The literal sense “blazing, burning” appeared in 1513[7][3][5] and is now archaic.[7][5] The sense of glaringly offensive or scandalous is recorded from 1706,[3][4] probably from the legal phrase in flagrante delicto, literally “with the crime still blazing”.[4]

Timeline

  • before 1500 – resplendent, now obsolete.[7][3][4]
  • 1513 – blazing, burning.[7][3][5]
  • 1515 – of feelings, ardent, now obsolete.[7]
  • 1706 – glaringly offensive.[3][4]
  • 1818 – in flagrant delict.[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Conspicuously bad or offensive, so obvious it cannot be overlooked; blatant.
  2. (archaic) Blazing or burning.

Word family

  • flagrancy
  • flagrantly
  • in flagrante delicto
  • in flagrante
  • conflagration

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary compares flagrant, glaring, gross, egregious and rank, all meaning conspicuously bad.[2] Flagrant applies to what is too offensive to escape notice, while glaring stresses conspicuousness and, Random House adds, usually lacks the suggestion of immorality.[2][6] Wiktionary notes that flagrant is sometimes written by mistake for fragrant.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Flagrant.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/flagrant. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·