Egregious
Definition
adjective
1. extremely bad in a way that stands out, flagrant, shocking, reprehensible, intolerable, blatant
Mark’s egregious behavior landed him in jail more than once.
2. {archaic – mid 16th century) distinguished, eminent
I don’t recommend you use egregious to mean eminent unless you are writing historical fiction. However, both the original meaning and the ironic one are captured if you paraphrase Mark Antony’s speech in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar:
For Brutus is an egregious man.
Word Origin
Current use:
Late 16th century, changed to its current meaning. Word experts speculate this may have been a result of ironic use. Interesting that the ironic version is the one which survived.
Original use:
Latin (mid-16th century) egregius
ex (out) + grex (flock, herd, or group); literally, out of the flock
Antonyms/near Antonyms
for meaning 1: marvelous, admirable, creditable
for meaning 2: any of the current meanings for egregious
