con ‧ spic ‧ u ‧ ous /kənˈspɪkjuəs/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: conspicuus , from conspicere 'to get to see' , from com- ( ⇨ COM- ) + specere 'to look' ]
1 . very easy to notice OPP inconspicuous :
The notice must be displayed in a conspicuous place.
a bird with conspicuous white markings
I felt very conspicuous in my red coat.
2 . conspicuous success, courage etc is very great and impressive:
He had represented Italy with conspicuous success.
The award is given for notable or conspicuous achievement in science.
3 . be conspicuous by your/its absence used to say that someone or something is not somewhere where they were expected to be:
a group that were conspicuous by their absence from the awards ceremony
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ obvious something that is obvious is very easy to notice or understand – used especially when you are surprised that other people cannot notice it:
There is an obvious connection between the two murders.
|
It was obvious that something was wrong.
▪ clear easy to notice that something is true, so that you feel sure about it and have no doubts:
It was clear to me that my father was dying.
|
There are clear signs of an economic recovery.
▪ noticeable very easy to notice, especially because you can see, hear, smell, or feel something:
Steroid drugs cause a noticeable change in someone’s behaviour.
|
Road noise tends to be more noticeable in certain weather conditions.
▪ conspicuous very easy to notice, because of being different from things around them:
a conspicuous white spot on the bird’s wings
|
She tried to make herself look less conspicuous.
|
Don’t leave your valuables in a conspicuous place.
▪ unmistakable extremely obvious, so that you cannot possibly confuse something with something else:
the unmistakable sound of gunfire
|
The flower’s scent is unmistakable.
▪ self-evident formal facts, ideas etc that are self-evident are obvious and true, although some people may not accept them or know about them:
The facts in this case are self-evident and cannot be denied.
|
We hold these truths to be self-evident (=we believe that they obvious and true – from the American Declaration of Independence) .
▪ blatant use this about something that someone does which is clearly bad, but which they do not seem to be ashamed of:
a blatant lie
|
The bill is a blatant attempt to limit our right to free speech.
▪ can tell to know that something must be true because you can see signs that show this:
Even though it was dark, she could tell it was him.
|
How can you tell if you’ve broken your arm?