# egrarious vs agregious **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 22, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egrarious-vs-agregious/170326 "2003-04-22T15:01:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bad\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f0a364/32.png) [@Bad\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_Hat)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egrarious-vs-agregious/170326/1 "2003-04-22T15:01:57Z")
so i’ve been using and seeing the word _egrarious_ as essentially a synonym fo _agregious_ for some time now and was called on it last night. well i smugly turned to a number of online dictionarys to defend myself only to discover that none of them list such as word. at the sae time, i did a google search and found about 4 pages of results forthe word _egrarious_ so iknow i’m not making it up. so whats the deal? are we all just mispronouncing and misusing the word _agregious_, or is there in fact a word _egrarious_ thats just somehow not in the dictionary? ---
**Author:** ![Jabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@Jabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jabba)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egrarious-vs-agregious/170326/2 "2003-04-22T15:06:19Z")
egregious: outrageous; notorious ( from Latin _e_ out of, and _grex_ a flock) Neither ‘agregious’ nor ‘egrarious’ exists according to _Chambers Dictionary_. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f0a364/32.png) [@Bad\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_Hat)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egrarious-vs-agregious/170326/3 "2003-04-22T15:10:29Z")
my apologies, for this embarrasing compound error. i meant _egregious_ vs _egrarious_ and i am aware that the one i have been using _egrarious_ has no dictionary listings, i just find it odd that it does have so many google hits (ABC news among them). i know i didn’t make the word up, i’m just wondering who did? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egrarious-vs-agregious/170326/4 "2003-04-22T15:15:58Z")
That so many people use egrarious is an egregious error, which I mention only gratuitously. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egrarious-vs-agregious/170326/5 "2003-04-22T15:23:34Z")
A Google search won’t help you sort out a problem like this unless it takes you to dictionary sites. There are any number of non-existent or misspelled words that are so commonly used a search is guaranteed to find plenty of examples, but that doesn’t stop them being errors. [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) has no record of _egrarious_, and it suggests that _agregious_ is an error for [_egregious_](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=egregious&r=2). Merriam-Webster seems to be unavailable at the moment, but I’m sure it would tell you a similar story. There _are_ words that haven’t made it into the dictionary, though. Paper dictionaries are too expensive to reprint with every passing fad of a slang word that is used very briefly and never again. Most dictionary compilers have rules about how widely and frequently a word needs to appear in print before they add it to their books. I’ve certainly heard (and used) _egregious_, but not _agregious_ or _egrarious_. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egrarious-vs-agregious/170326/6 "2003-04-22T15:29:59Z")
You may have gotten the term [gregarious](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=gregarious) (Seeking and enjoying the company of others; sociable.) mixed up with egregious. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egrarious-vs-agregious/170326/7 "2003-04-22T15:31:53Z")
Might “egrarious” be a corrupted version of “gregarious”? (If so, it is a grievous error.) ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f0a364/32.png) [@Bad\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_Hat)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egrarious-vs-agregious/170326/8 "2003-04-22T15:33:43Z")
no i was actually using it to mean the same thing as the dictionary definitions of egregious. and i didn’t make it up, as i said i found a number of stes where its used in much the same way. all i am sayng is _I_ didn’t make up the word or the usage, as i’ve heard it a lot. i concede that its incorerect, i’m just pissed that it seems to be such a widespread error that i’d heard it enough times to believe it. i’m usually- this thread not withstanding- fairly anal about misuses and imaginary words. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egrarious-vs-agregious/170326/9 "2003-04-22T16:55:49Z")
Can you please link to such a site? I’m having a hard time believing that this isn’t a simple misunderstanding on _your_ part, particularly when considering the mistakes in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f0a364/32.png) [@Bad\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_Hat)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egrarious-vs-agregious/170326/10 "2003-04-22T17:00:11Z")
google for “egrarious”. theres four pages of examples of usages that are essentially synonymous with egregious. (i’m NOT saying this makes it correct, just that i’m not the only one whos heard this imaginary word, andthat i din’t make it up). ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egrarious-vs-agregious/170326/11 "2003-04-22T17:13:54Z")
Not always. At least one of your Google hits obviously confuses this for _gregarious_: > [@](#): > > Joseph, the egrarious concierge at Le Parc had ensured that we had a table despite the fact that we booked at the last moment. Another makes the error so ironically it’s funny: > [@](#): > > . . . .from Dan Quayle’s famous egrarious public statements. . . . Well, I guess it’s easier to spell “potato.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f0a364/32.png) [@Bad\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_Hat)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egrarious-vs-agregious/170326/12 "2003-04-22T17:18:00Z")
well in anycase. i didn’t make it up. was really just asking if anybody knew where this came from. i’m inclined to agree with the theory that its some conflation of gregarious and egregious. but its still weird. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egrarious-vs-agregious/170326/13 "2003-04-22T17:54:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bad Hat \* > \*\*well in anycase. i didn’t make it up. > > was really just asking if anybody knew where this came from. i’m inclined to agree with the theory that its some conflation of gregarious and egregious. but its still weird. \*\* It’s not all that weird. Gregarious and egregious have the same root. (greg ~ herd) Literally: gregarious ~ fits into the herd egregious ~ doesn’t fit into the herd I could see how two words that are this closely related could be confused. ---
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egrarious-vs-agregious/170326/14 "2003-04-22T17:54:48Z")
Try searching google for “alot” as a really good example of why google isn’t a good dictionary.