English Insights 3, Etymology 152: Semantic Shift of “egregious” from outstandingly good to outstandingly bad. Irony reflected through semantic shift
Michael D. Powers, Ph.D., USCCI
![Michael D. Powers, Ph.D., USCCI]()
Michael D. Powers, Ph.D., USCCI
US Certified Court Interpreter 1980 / Ph.D. Spanish Portuguese 1981 / 24 years university professor / Estimates: 12,000+ depositions, hearings, etc. / 850 trials / 3000 documents / Conference Interpreter 650 conferences
The photo is to illustrate the egregious manners of two people whispering into the two separate ears of the person that has to try to listen to them simultaneously.
Note the difference in usage between a word that has expanded semantically versus one that has shifted. The word “sanction” in English expanded to the point that it is used both positively and positively. However, current usage in English has replaced the prior meaning of “egregious” and thus we classify this as semantic shift or semantic change.
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Since the source of this word is from Latin, in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian it maintains its original meaning of distinguished, eminent. ?
What follows was written by Merrill Perlman in 2020. He did such a good job that I copied it.
?The word egregious?comes from the Latin word ēgregius, which means "preeminent" or "outstanding".?It is made up of the following parts:?
E-:?Meaning "out of"
Grex:?Meaning "flock"
-Ious:?An adjective suffix
-Osus:?A Latin suffix meaning "full of"
The word was first recorded in 1525–35.?It first appeared in English around 1550 in a translation of Polydore Vergil's history of England.?
Egregious was originally a compliment for someone who had a remarkable quality that made them stand out from others.?Today, the word has a less complimentary meaning, possibly due to ironic use of its original sense.?It is now used to describe conduct that is flagrant or outrageous.?
The Latin word grex also means "herd" or "group".?It is the root of several English words, including:?Gregarious, Congregation, Segregation.?
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Egregious?comes from a Latin word meaning "distinguished" or "eminent." It was once a compliment to someone who had a remarkably good quality that placed him or her above others. Today, the meaning of the word is noticeably less complimentary, possibly as a result of ironic use of its original sense.
?These examples come from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Recent Examples on the Web Such critics also alleged that because the platform prioritized anonymity, users who had been banned for?egregious?or predatory behavior were able to return over and over again.—Ej Dickson,?Rolling Stone, 9 Nov. 2023
Indeed, considering all the resources the Central Saint Martins alumni has access to (her venture is backed by LVMH) and following a particularly bad season for plus-size representation at Fashion Week, this—we’ll call it—oversight feels?egregious?and inexcusable.—Shelcy Joseph,?Essence, 1 Nov. 2023
In particular?egregious?cases, predating the 702 program by several years, an NSA employee admitted to wiretapping as many as nine phones belonging to women.—WIRED, 24 Oct. 2023
Biden’s trip to Israel came in the wake of an?egregious?case of media malfeasance that added more fuel to an already raging conflict.—The Editors,?National Review, 19 Oct. 2023
Shepard's murder is remembered as one of the nation's most notorious and?egregious?hate crimes.—CBS News, 12 Oct. 2023
Though much remains unknown about what, if any, specific warning Israel received prior to the attack, our lack of preparedness this time was equally?egregious.—Michael Oren,?The Atlantic, 9 Oct. 2023
What Hamas did was?egregious, was an outrage against any decent human being.—ABC News, 15 Oct. 2023
To Kelly, that felt like an?egregious?abuse of power that tried to pit groups of people against one another.—Salvador Hernandez,?Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2023
?“Egregious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/egregious. Accessed 19 Nov. 2023.
?This is a continuation of what Perlman wrote.
Recently, we discussed?words in the?Oxford English Dictionary?that mention novelist Nevil Shute. His first published novel,?Marazan, from 1926, follows the first-person adventures of Philip Stenning, a former World War I pilot who crashes his plane and is rescued by an escaped prisoner, who asks Stenning to help clear him of a frame set up by his Italian half-brother. (We didn’t say it was a?good?novel.)
At one point, Stenning is in Italy, where he is treated like royalty as he is introduced to an official. “He bowed to me as I came up, and asked if His Excellency would have the egregious kindness to display his passport.”
You’re probably wondering why we’re telling you all this. If so, go back and read the quoted sentence. Doesn’t that usage of “egregious” seems strange?
We usually think of “egregious” as something bad. Not just bad, but as?Merriam-Webster?says, “conspicuously bad: flagrant.”
ICYMI:?Dead and spun: a story in three meetings
Obviously, that official is not asking Stenning for a “conspicuously bad” kindness. Instead, he seems to lay it on rather thick to be sure his request is not offending. In this case, “egregious” is good.?
?“Egregious” is not quite?a “bizarro” word, used as opposite to its traditional meanings, like saying something is “bad” when you mean it’s “good.” It’s more like a?Janus word, which has two opposite meanings, like “sanction.” “Egregious” could be good or bad, depending on the context.
The first appearance of “egregious” in English was around 1550, the?OED?says.?M-W?says: “Egregious?derives from the Latin word?egregius, meaning ‘distinguished’ or ‘eminent.’ In its earliest English uses,?egregious?was a compliment to someone who had a remarkably good quality that placed him or her eminently above others.”
This usage of “egregious” is what landed Shute in the?OED?for the first time. (Aha,?there’s?the connection!) The passage from?Marazan?is one citation for this positive use of “egregious.” In that entry, Shute is in such esteemed company as Hobbes and Thackeray (and also?Field & Stream?magazine).
But?egregius?was also used sarcastically in Latin, and in about 1566, the OED said, “egregious” was being used, “Apparently arising as an ironic use,” to mean “Conspicuously bad or wrong; blatant, flagrant.” Later, the?OED?says, it gained the meanings of “outrageous, offensive.”
That’s how we mostly see it used today.?Hillary Clinton said?that impeachment is included in the Constitution to protect against “a leader whose behavior would be so?egregious, so threatening to the republic, that there had to be a remedy.”?A judge cited a man’s “egregious?wildlife crimes”?and sentenced him for a murder-for-hire scheme.?The license of a bar in a Chicago suburb?was suspended for three days for the “egregious?violation” of selling alcohol to minors.
It’s rare to find a positive use of “egregious” today. Indeed, the chances are if someone today used “egregious” in a context similar to the way Shute did, readers might interpret it as a “fulsome” request, one that was abundant or copious in its kindness.
Except,?as longtime readers might know,?to some people “fulsome” means “abundant,” while to others it means “disgusting or offensive.” So one person’s “egregious kindness” could be another person’s “fulsome kindness.” And it could mean a good thing, or bad.
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LANGUAGE CORNER
The good, the bad, and the egregious
FEBRUARY 10, 2020 By?MERRILL PERLMAN
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