egregious
extremely bad
TRANSLATION
egregious = auffallend schlecht --- GOOGLE INDEX egregious: approximately 6,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
The Gates Foundation doesn’t invest in companies whose corporate activity it finds to be EGREGIOUS, including tobacco stocks and investments in Sudan.
(BusinessWeek magazine)
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''No war comes without cost, but the cost should be born out of conflict with the enemy, and not because of EGREGIOUS violations by some of our own troops."
(US Senator Susan Collins)
(BusinessWeek magazine)
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''No war comes without cost, but the cost should be born out of conflict with the enemy, and not because of EGREGIOUS violations by some of our own troops."
(US Senator Susan Collins)
Did you
know?
egregious
adjective
- extremely bad in a way that is very noticeable
(Cambridge Dictionary)
---
When Elvis Presley went on television for the first time with his gyrating hips and suggestive song lyrics, many American parents were shocked at a performance that in those days could have been described as egregious. Times change and so do the meanings of words.
Egregious is good example, because it originally meant excellent and outstanding which is what many teenagers thought of Elvis. It stems from the Latin egregius (distinguished, excellent, extraordinary), a phrase that derives from "ex" (out of) and "grege" (a flock or herd of animals). In other words, at first egregious referred to something that stands out from the rest, but in a good way.
Some etymologists believe the change in meaning resulted from an ironic use of the original sense. One could well imagine an English nobleman in the 16th century commenting on an absolutely horrible supper by telling his cook, "Thank you so much for that egregious meal!"
And much like a self-fulfilling prophecy, ironic and repeated use eventually transformed egregious into an adjective that today means standing out from the rest, but in a "bad" way.
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SYNONYMS
atrocious, deplorable, extreme, flagrant, heinous, horrifying, inappropriate, nefarious, outrageous, scandalous, shocking
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"His behaviour during the meeting was simply egregious!"
---
Thanks to Ron for suggesting today's word!
adjective
- extremely bad in a way that is very noticeable
(Cambridge Dictionary)
---
When Elvis Presley went on television for the first time with his gyrating hips and suggestive song lyrics, many American parents were shocked at a performance that in those days could have been described as egregious. Times change and so do the meanings of words.
Egregious is good example, because it originally meant excellent and outstanding which is what many teenagers thought of Elvis. It stems from the Latin egregius (distinguished, excellent, extraordinary), a phrase that derives from "ex" (out of) and "grege" (a flock or herd of animals). In other words, at first egregious referred to something that stands out from the rest, but in a good way.
Some etymologists believe the change in meaning resulted from an ironic use of the original sense. One could well imagine an English nobleman in the 16th century commenting on an absolutely horrible supper by telling his cook, "Thank you so much for that egregious meal!"
And much like a self-fulfilling prophecy, ironic and repeated use eventually transformed egregious into an adjective that today means standing out from the rest, but in a "bad" way.
---
SYNONYMS
atrocious, deplorable, extreme, flagrant, heinous, horrifying, inappropriate, nefarious, outrageous, scandalous, shocking
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"His behaviour during the meeting was simply egregious!"
---
Thanks to Ron for suggesting today's word!
