Flagrant | Meaning + Examples
Description
flagrant
(of an action) shocking because it is done in a very obvious way and shows no respect for laws, people in authority, etc.
Two Example Dialogues Using ‘Flagrant’
: Chill out, lady. It’s not like I killed someone.
: You have a flagrant disregard for my position here, and I will not tolerate it. Like it or not, I’m your boss, so get over it, or you’re going to find yourself on the way out the door.
: We need to crack down on plagiarism. I’ve been getting more and more plagiarized papers, and the students think we’re not seeing it.
: I couldn’t agree more. Just yesterday, a student handed in a paper that was a flagrant ripoff of my own doctoral thesis. In some places, he used my exact wording!
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Examples of ‘Flagrant’ from the News
“Rape of children has recently increased alarmingly in a flagrant violation of human rights in general and child rights in particular.”
– Al-Masry Al-Youm, “Child rapist handed seven-year prison sentence”, 10 September 2019
“The Sacramento City Unified School District faces allegations of ‘flagrant discrimination’ against students with disabilities. Several nonprofit groups have filed a lawsuit, claiming black students with disabilities bear the brunt of this discrimination.”
– Anna Giles, “Civil Rights Groups Sue Sacramento District For ‘Flagrant Discrimination’ Against Students With Disabilities”, 6 September 2019
Special Notes on the Word ‘Flagrant’
The word ‘flagrant’ is closely related to one of my favorite humorous phrases in English, ‘in flagrante delicto’, which is taken directly from Latin.
If you catch someone in flagrante delicto, you catch them doing something that they shouldn’t be doing, especially having sex. In English, we have lots of indirect ways of talking about sex, and this is one that often makes people laugh.
: Will Rob be joining us for dinner?
: I highly doubt it. I stumbled upon him in flagrante delicto with my math tutor last week, and he’s been avoiding me ever since!
Related: Funny English euphemisms for sex
Pronunciation of ‘Flagrant’</
United States
