blatant or flagrant? These two words are close together in meaning, both indicating that something is openly outrageous. There is a difference of emphasis, however. Blatant emphasizes the obviousness of an offence: It was such a blatant attempt at emotional blackmail that not even his doting mother could fail to see it. Flagrant, on the other hand, emphasizes the offence's brazenly shocking or outrageous nature: If they fail to condemn such a flagrant breach of the regulations, will they ever condemn anything at all? Both words are spelt with two a's