You’ve seen it happen. A soccer player dives in the penalty box when the nearest defender is three feet away. A politician denies saying something that is literally recorded on 4K video. It’s blatant. It’s loud. It’s impossible to ignore, yet for some reason, we find ourselves staring at the screen wondering how anyone thought they could get away with it.
Words matter.
"Blatant" isn't just a fancy way of saying someone is lying or being rude. It’s about the lack of disguise. It comes from the archaic word blatant, possibly coined by Edmund Spenser in the 16th century to describe a thousand-tongued monster. It sounds noisy because it is meant to be. When something is blatant, it’s not just an error; it’s an exhibition.
The Psychology of Being Blatant
Why do people do it? Honestly, it’s often a power move. When a person is blatant about breaking a rule, they aren't trying to hide. They are testing the boundaries of what the environment will tolerate. Think about corporate culture. If a manager shows blatant favoritism, they aren't usually confused about the HR handbook. They’re signaling that they are above it.
It’s bold.
Psychologists often point to the "Big Lie" theory, where a claim is so outrageous and so obviously false that people assume it must have some grain of truth, because who would be crazy enough to make that up? It’s a gamble on human nature. We tend to give people the benefit of the doubt, and the blatant actor exploits that exact tendency.
There is also the concept of "Inattentional Blindness." You might know the famous "Gorilla Experiment" by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons. Participants watched a video of people passing a basketball and were told to count the passes. A person in a gorilla suit walked right through the middle of the scene. Half the people missed it.
The gorilla was blatant. But the human brain is a filter. If we aren't looking for the obvious, the obvious becomes invisible.
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Blatant vs. Flagrant: Are They Actually Different?
Most people use these interchangeably. You’ll hear a sports commentator scream about a "blatant foul" one minute and a "flagrant foul" the next. Are they the same? Not quite.
Think of it like this:
- Blatant is about visibility. It’s "glaring." It’s the orange hunting vest in a sea of green trees.
- Flagrant is about the intensity or the "wrongness." It carries a heavier weight of immorality or harm.
If you spill coffee on a white rug and just walk away, that’s blatant. If you intentionally pour the coffee while staring the homeowner in the eye, that’s flagrant. One is about being obvious; the other is about being offensive.
Real-World Examples That Defy Logic
We see this in the news constantly. Take the 2023 "Deepfake" scams. Scammers were becoming so blatant that they didn't even bother to match the lip-syncing of the AI-generated videos. Why? Because they only wanted to catch the most gullible people. It was a filter. If you couldn't see the blatant glitching, you were the perfect target for a wire transfer fraud.
In the world of art, consider the Hans van Meegeren case. He was a forger who sold "Vermeer" paintings to the Nazis. His forgeries were actually quite bad in hindsight. The colors were off, the style was stiff. They were blatantly not Vermeers to any modern expert. But because the buyers wanted them to be real, the obviousness of the forgery didn't matter. Desire blinds us to the blatant truth.
The Language of the Obvious
Sometimes, we use the word to describe something beautiful. A blatant disregard for the "rules" of fashion can lead to a legendary Met Gala look. We praise artists for their blatant honesty.
It's a weird word because it requires an audience. You can’t be blatant in a vacuum. You need someone there to witness the audacity. It’s a social transaction.
How to Spot the Blatant Move in Negotiations
In business, a blatant lie is often a "low-ball" or "high-ball" tactic.
If a consultant asks for $500,000 for a job that clearly takes two weeks, that is a blatant overreach. They aren't expecting you to say yes. They are anchoring. They want to shock your system so that when they "drop" to $200,000, it feels like a bargain. You have to recognize the blatant nature of the first offer to avoid falling for the second one.
- Always check the "Anchor": Is the first number even remotely tethered to reality?
- Look for the "Tell": Blatant actors often over-explain or, conversely, say nothing at all.
- Trust the "Wait, what?" moment: If your brain does a double-take, trust it.
When the Obvious Becomes a Weapon
Gaslighting relies on the blatant. It’s the act of insisting that what a person sees with their own eyes isn't happening. "I didn't say that," someone says, even though the text message is sitting right there on the screen.
It’s frustrating. It's maddening.
The reason it works is that it’s so blatant it causes a cognitive breakdown in the victim. You start to wonder if your own memory is failing because surely, surely, no one would lie about something so easily disproven. But they do. And they do it because the boldness of the lie is its own kind of protection.
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Actionable Steps for Dealing with the Blatant
When you encounter something that is blatantly wrong, unfair, or false, your instinct might be to argue. Don't.
- Call it out immediately. Use "The Mirror" technique. Simply repeat what happened back to the person. "You just said you didn't go to the store, but I’m looking at the receipt on the counter." Don't add emotion. Just state the blatant fact.
- Don't debate the "Why." You will drive yourself crazy trying to figure out why someone would be so obvious. The why doesn't matter as much as the what.
- Document. Blatant behavior thrives in "he-said, she-said" environments. In a workplace, if someone is showing blatant bias, keep a log. Dates, times, and what was said. The obvious becomes undeniable when it’s written in black and white.
- Check your own biases. Are you missing something blatant because you like the person? Or because you’re busy counting the "basketball passes" of your own life? Take a breath. Look at the whole frame.
Sometimes, the most important things in our lives aren't hidden at all. They are standing right there, waving their arms, waiting for us to stop ignoring what is blatant. It’s not about being cynical; it’s about being awake.
Identify the one "obvious" thing in your current project or relationship that you've been choosing to ignore. Write it down. Once it's on paper, the power of its "hidden-in-plain-sight" nature vanishes. You can finally deal with it.
Next Steps for Clarity
- Review your recent "gut feelings": Usually, a gut feeling is just your subconscious picking up on a blatant pattern you haven't consciously acknowledged yet.
- Audit your surroundings: Look for the "gorilla" in the room—the issue everyone sees but nobody mentions.
- Simplify your communication: If you find yourself being subtle to avoid conflict, try being slightly more blatant. Directness often saves time and prevents the very misunderstandings you're trying to avoid.