different between egregious vs calumny

English

Etymology

From Latin ?gregius, from e- (“out of”), + grex (“flock”), + English adjective suffix -ous, from Latin suffix -osus (“full of”); reflecting the positive connotations of "standing out from the flock".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /????i?.d??s/, /????i?.d?i.?s/
• Rhymes: -i?d??s

Adjective

egregious (comparative more egregious, superlative most egregious)

1. conspicuous, exceptional, outstanding; usually in a negative sense.
   • 16thC, Christopher Marlowe, Ignoto,

     I cannot cross my arms, or sigh "Ah me," / "Ah me forlorn!" egregious foppery! / I cannot buss thy fill, play with thy hair, / Swearing by Jove, "Thou art most debonnaire!"

   • c1605, William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well, Act 2, Scene 3,

     My lord, you give me most egregious indignity.

   • 22 March 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Hunger Games[1]

     When the goal is simply to be as faithful as possible to the material—as if a movie were a marriage, and a rights contract the vow—the best result is a skillful abridgment, one that hits all the important marks without losing anything egregious.
2. Outrageously bad; shocking.

Usage notes

The negative meaning arose in the late 16th century, probably originating in sarcasm. Before that, it meant outstanding in a good way. Webster also gives “distinguished” as an archaic meaning, and notes that contemporary usage often has an unpleasant connotation (for example, “an egregious error”). It generally precedes such epithets as ass, blunderer, rascal, and rogue. The Italian as well as Spanish cognate egregio has retained a strictly positive sense, as has the Portuguese cognate egrégio.

Related terms

• egregia cum laude

Derived terms

• egregiously
• egregiousness

Translations

English

Etymology

From Late Middle English calumn?e (“false accusation, slander; (law) objection raised in bad faith”), borrowed from Old French calomnie (“slander, calumny”) (modern French calomnie), or directly from its etymon Latin calumnia (“false statement, misrepresentation; false accusation, malicious charge”), perhaps related to calvor (“to deceive”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *?elh?- or *?h?l-. The English word is a doublet of challenge.

The verb is derived from French calomnier (“to slander”), from Late Latin calumni?re, from Latin calumpni?r?, calumni?r?, present active infinitive of calumnior (“to blame unjustly, misrepresent, calumniate; (law) to accuse falsely, bring false information against”), from calumnia (see above) + -or.

Pronunciation

• Noun:
  • (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /?kæl?mni/
• Verb:
  • (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /k??l?mni/
• Hyphenation: ca?lum?ny

Noun

calumny (countable and uncountable, plural calumnies)

1. (countable) A false accusation or charge brought to tarnish another's reputation or standing.
2. (uncountable) Falsifications or misrepresentations intended to disparage or discredit another.

   Synonyms: calumniousness, defamation, obloquy, traducement, vilification; see also Thesaurus:slander

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

calumny (third-person singular simple present calumnies, present participle calumnying, simple past and past participle calumnied)

1. (transitive, formal) To make false accusations or levy false charges against a person with the intent to tarnish that person's reputation or standing; to calumniate.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:defame

Translations

References