flagrant English · revision 1357

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈfleɪ.ɡɹənt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|flagrāns|t=burning, blazing]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) the present participle of ''flagrāre'' “to burn”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) perhaps through French ''flagrant''.^(Barnhart 1995) Etymonline traces it to the Proto-Indo-European root [[ine-pro|*bʰel-]] “to shine, flash, burn”.^(Etymonline)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Resplendent, glorious (before 1500).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The literal sense “blazing, burning” appeared in 1513^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) and is now archaic.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) The sense of glaringly offensive or scandalous is recorded from 1706,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) probably from the legal phrase ''in flagrante delicto'', literally “with the crime still blazing”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1500 – resplendent, now obsolete.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1513 – blazing, burning.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1515 – of feelings, ardent, now obsolete.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1706 – glaringly offensive.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1818 – ''in flagrant delict''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Conspicuously bad or offensive, so obvious it cannot be overlooked; [[blatant]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Blazing or burning.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[flagrancy]]

+ * [[flagrantly]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[in flagrante delicto]]

+ * [[in flagrante]]

+ * [[conflagration]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary compares ''flagrant'', ''glaring'', ''gross'', ''egregious'' and ''rank'', all meaning conspicuously bad.^(AHD) ''Flagrant'' applies to what is too offensive to escape notice, while ''glaring'' stresses conspicuousness and, Random House adds, usually lacks the suggestion of immorality.^(AHD)^(RHWU) Wiktionary notes that ''flagrant'' is sometimes written by mistake for ''fragrant''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}