salient

American  

[say-lee-uhnt, sayl-yuhnt] / ˈseɪ li ənt, ˈseɪl jənt /

adjective

1. prominent or conspicuous.

   salient traits.

   Synonyms:

   remarkable, striking, important

   Antonyms:

   unimportant, inconspicuous

2. projecting or pointing outward.

   a salient angle.

3. leaping or jumping.

   a salient animal.

4. Heraldry. (of a beast) represented as leaping.

   a lion salient.

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noun

• salients
  plural

1. a salient angle or part, as the central outward-projecting angle of a bastion or an outward projection in a battle line.

2. Physical Geography. a landform that extends out beyond its surroundings, as a spur projecting from the side of a mountain.

salient British  

/ ˈseɪlɪənt /

adjective

1. prominent, conspicuous, or striking

   a salient feature

2. (esp in fortifications) projecting outwards at an angle of less than 180° Compare re-entrant

3. geometry (of an angle) pointing outwards from a polygon and hence less than 180° Compare re-entrant

4. (esp of animals) leaping

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noun

1. military a projection of the forward line into enemy-held territory

2. a salient angle

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• salience
  noun
• unsalient
  adjective
• saliently
  adverb
• unsaliently
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• salients
  plural

Etymology

Origin of salient

First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin salient-, stem of saliēns “jumping,” present participle of salīre “to spring, jump”

Explanation

If something stands out in a very obvious way, it can be called salient. It's time to find new friends if the differences between you and your current friends are becoming more and more salient. Salient, from the Latin verb salire, "to leap," was originally used in English to refer to leaping animals such as a frog or deer and may still be used this way. Often, however, it is used in math or geography to mean protruding. A salient angle juts outward rather than inward. Figuratively, it means noticeable or prominent. When giving an argument, make your most salient points at the beginning or the end.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

salient salients

There is certainly salient evidence to the contrary: During the dot-com boom, the New York Stock Exchange advance-decline line peaked in 1998, data showed.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

It eventually appeared in the paper but with many of the salient details left out.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

The more salient question today, though, is whether anyone has reached AGI.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

Rarely does the movie hit on any salient points that the series hasn’t already made, opting instead to repeat narrative patterns and jerk a few tears here and there.

From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026

It was a river of iridescent onyx—Mrs. Shigemura described it in Japanese—the salient feature of her physical being, as prominent and extraordinary as baldness might have been in another girl of the same age.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson

Last week, on one of Wall Street's sorest salients, there was Peace.

From Time Magazine Archive

Only half of the salients mapped during the summer by the House had been fought over by the Senate.

From Time Magazine Archive

One of Chiang's armies had been cut off, and two others that tried to rescue it had exposed salients.

From Time Magazine Archive

South Viet Nam, Malaysia and Thailand represent salients on the edge of China's sphere of influence.

From Time Magazine Archive

It seems to be the lot of the P.P.s to get into salients.

From My Year of the War Including an Account of Experiences with the Troops in France and the Record of a Visit to the Grand Fleet Which is Here Given for the First Time in its Complete Form by Frederick Palmer

Related Words

• arresting
• conspicuous
• pertinent
• weighty