Word.ws English Dictionary

in flagrante

in flagrante is the ellipsis of in flagrante delicto.

Meaning of in flagrante delicto

Adverb

in flagrante delicto (not comparable)

  1. In the act of committing a misdeed.
    • He would be caught in flagrante delicto, and, with a heavy sentence hovering over him, he would probably be induced to name his accomplice.1908, Baroness Orczy, chapter V, in The Old Man in the Corner
    Synonyms:
    in the act, red-handed, with one's dick in one's hand, with one's hand in the cookie jar, with one's pants down
  2. While performing sexual activity.
    • We've already established that you were one of Miss Scarlet's clients. That's why you were so desperate to get your hands on those negatives. Photographs of you and Yvette in flagrante delicto, remember?1985, Jonathan Lynn, Clue, spoken by Colonel Mustard (Martin Mull)

Questions about in flagrante

What is in flagrante the ellipsis of?
In flagrante is the ellipsis of in flagrante delicto.

Words near in flagrante in the dictionary

  1. in fine
  2. in fine feather
  3. in fine fettle
  4. in fits and starts
  5. in flagrant delict
  6. in flagrante
  7. in flagrante delicto
  8. in flagranti delicto
  9. in flames
  10. in flight
  11. in floods

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: in flagrante (page history and authors); in flagrante delicto (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “in flagrante.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/in_flagrante. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.