inconspicuous
not easily noticed or seen
TRANSLATION
inconspicuous = unauffällig, unscheinbar, unmerklich inconspicuous dress = unauffällige Kleidung inconspicuous person = unscheinbare Person --- GOOGLE INDEX inconspicuous: approximately 4,550,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"Japan’s INCONSPICUOUS consumption. There are a lot of good reasons why Japan’s consumers are on strike."
The Economist
The Economist
Did you
know?
inconspicuous
adjective
- not easily or quickly noticed or seen
(Cambridge Dictionary)
Remember in school when certain pupils - sat in the very back row of the class to avoid the teacher's gaze or being called upon to answer a question? They were trying to be inconspicuous. What they didn't know is that as Roman historian Tacitus pointed out, they were actually being conspicuous by their absence from the front row. Tacitus was not talking about pupils, but rather images.
As we note, inconspicuous derives from conspicuous (Latin conspicuus), meaning visible, open to view, which in turn originated from the Latin "conspicere," to look at, observe, see or notice. Conspicere comprises the intensifying prefix "con" plus "specere," the root of scope (aim, target, object of attention).
So by adding the prefix in (not), inconspicuous becomes the opposite of visible: invisible. It was first used in this more literal form. Over time however, the sense weakened somewhat to "not easily seen, not readily noticed," such as a video security camera in a store, whose sole purpose of course is to make someone conspicuous.
Like our boys in the classroom, when referring to a person, inconspicuous usually describes someone who shies away from attention or avoids the spotlight. That's not a bad trait if your company is looking to hire a research assistant, but not if you need a salesperson.
---
SYNONYMS
concealed, hidden, indistinct, low-key, low-profile, modest, shy, subtle, unassuming, unostentatious, unnoticeable
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Our company logo is inconspicuous among all the other."
adjective
- not easily or quickly noticed or seen
(Cambridge Dictionary)
Remember in school when certain pupils - sat in the very back row of the class to avoid the teacher's gaze or being called upon to answer a question? They were trying to be inconspicuous. What they didn't know is that as Roman historian Tacitus pointed out, they were actually being conspicuous by their absence from the front row. Tacitus was not talking about pupils, but rather images.
As we note, inconspicuous derives from conspicuous (Latin conspicuus), meaning visible, open to view, which in turn originated from the Latin "conspicere," to look at, observe, see or notice. Conspicere comprises the intensifying prefix "con" plus "specere," the root of scope (aim, target, object of attention).
So by adding the prefix in (not), inconspicuous becomes the opposite of visible: invisible. It was first used in this more literal form. Over time however, the sense weakened somewhat to "not easily seen, not readily noticed," such as a video security camera in a store, whose sole purpose of course is to make someone conspicuous.
Like our boys in the classroom, when referring to a person, inconspicuous usually describes someone who shies away from attention or avoids the spotlight. That's not a bad trait if your company is looking to hire a research assistant, but not if you need a salesperson.
---
SYNONYMS
concealed, hidden, indistinct, low-key, low-profile, modest, shy, subtle, unassuming, unostentatious, unnoticeable
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Our company logo is inconspicuous among all the other."
