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flagrancy

flagrancy

1 8.2
An open, shocking act that is wrong or offensive
  • noun
  • /ˈfleɪɡrəntsi/
  • Formal
: flagrancia
  • the flagrancy of it

Examples

  • The law's flagrancy in allowing the pollution to continue for years angered many residents.

  • I dabbed my lip with the towel, ignoring the flagrancy of the scene.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Those sandwiches had been her first idea of physical passion, the drip and warp of love, its redolent flagrancy.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • Her decision to cheat on the exam revealed a flagrancy that surprised even her closest friends.

  • The flagrancy of his actions during the meeting made it clear he had no respect for the rules.

Synonyms

offensiveness
vsflagrancy
2 6.7

A quality that makes people feel hurt or angry

is more about being openly shocking rather than only offending feelings
egregiousness
vsflagrancy
  • Formal
1 9.8

A quality of being very bad and shocking

focuses more on open shocking quality rather than plain badness
blatancy
vsflagrancy
1 8.3

Being very obvious in a way that annoys or offends people

is about being openly shocking rather than merely obvious
repugnancy
vsflagrancy
1 9.5

Something that causes strong disgust or makes people feel offended

is more about public blatant wrongness and shock than private disgust

Antonyms

48 6.8

A small important detail that is hard to notice

How Flagrant

egregiousness
  • Formal
1 9.8
flagrancy
  • Formal
1 8.2

Surface Forms

flagrancy singular
flagrancies plural

Morphology

flagrancy = flagrant (transparent) = flagrant + cy

The noun 'flagrancy' is transparently derived from the adjective 'flagrant' by adding the suffix '-cy', indicating a state or quality.

Etymology

Flagrancy comes from the Latin verb flagrare, which means 'to burn'. Think of a bright flame you cannot hide that draws everyone's eye, so flagrancy means the open, shocking quality of being obviously wrong or offensive.