conspicuous

Intermediatezipf 3.35

Pronunciation

/kənˈspɪkjuəs/(kun-SPIK-yoo-us)

Part of speech

adjectiveneutral

Chinese

显眼的；引人注目的（容易被注意到的）

Definition

Standing out so as to be clearly visible; attracting attention by being unusual or remarkable.

Word family

  • conspicuously/kənˈspɪkjuəsli/(adv)显眼地
  • conspicuousness(n)

Collocations

  • conspicuous absence
  • conspicuous consumption
  • conspicuous by
  • conspicuous display
  • conspicuous success

Examples

  1. 1.His conspicuous absence from the meeting raised questions about his commitment to the project. (noticeably missing)
  2. 2.The economist Thorstein Veblen coined the term "conspicuous consumption" to describe spending intended to display wealth. (showing off)

Synonyms

  • prominent/ˈprɒmɪnənt/— standing out, important
  • noticeable/ˈnoʊtɪsəbl/— easy to notice — more neutral
  • striking/ˈstraɪkɪŋ/— attracting attention by being unusual or impressive

Etymology

from Latin "conspicuus" (visible, striking) — "conspicere" (to look at) — con- (together) + specere (to look)