What is "flagitiousness"

Flagitious \Fla*gi"tious\, a. [L. flagitiosus, fr. flagitium a shameful or disgraceful act, orig., a burning desire, heat of passion, from flagitare to demand hotly, fiercely; cf. flagrare to burn, E. flagrant.]

1. Disgracefully or shamefully criminal; grossly wicked; scandalous; shameful; -- said of acts, crimes, etc.

   Debauched principles and flagitious practices.
   --I. Taylor.

2. Guilty of enormous crimes; corrupt; profligate; -- said of persons.
   --Pope.

3. Characterized by scandalous crimes or vices; as, flagitious times.
   --Pope.

   Syn: Atrocious; villainous; flagrant; heinous; corrupt; profligate; abandoned. See Atrocious. -- Fla*gi"tious*ly, adv. -- Fla*gi"tious*ness, n.

   A sentence so flagitiously unjust.
   --Macaulay.

n. The state or quality of being flagitious