conspicuous
[ kuhn-spik-yoo-uhs ]
/ kənˈspɪk yu əs /
adjective
easily seen or noticed; readily visible or observable: a conspicuous error.
attracting special attention, as by outstanding qualities or eccentricities: He was conspicuous by his booming laughter.
RELATED WORDS
eminence, height, protrusion, elevation, projection, headland, bulge, swelling, protuberance, rise, crest, bump, jutting, pinnacle, mound, promontory, spur, cliff, tor, crag
Nearby words
- conspecific,
- conspectus,
- consperg.,
- conspicuity,
- conspicuity tape,
- conspicuous by its absence,
- conspicuous consumption,
- conspiracist,
- conspiracy,
- conspiracy of silence
Origin of conspicuous
1535–45; < Latin conspicuus visible, conspicuous, equivalent to conspic(ere) (see conspectus) + -uus deverbal adj. suffix; cf. contiguous, continuous, -ous
SYNONYMS FOR conspicuous
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for conspicuity
The young man and the pulpit are therefore preeminent in conspicuity.
The Young Man and the World|Albert J. Beveridge
conspicuous
/ (kənˈspɪkjʊəs) /
adjective
clearly visible; obvious or showy
attracting attention because of a striking quality or featureconspicuous stupidity
Word Origin for conspicuous
C16: from Latin conspicuus, from conspicere to perceive; see conspectus
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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conspicuous
1540s, from Latin conspicuus "visible, open to view, striking," from conspicere "to look at, observe, see, notice," from com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + specere (see scope (n.1)). Phrase conspicuous by its absence (1859) is said to be from Tacitus ("Annals" iii.76), in a passage about certain images: "sed præfulgebant ... eo ipso quod effigies eorum non visebantur."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper