a. [f. L. conspicu-us visible, striking + -OUS.]
1. Clearly visible, easy to be seen, obvious or striking to the eye.
1545. Raynold, Byrthe Mankynde, Hh vij. These vaynes doo appeare more conspicuous and notable to the eyes.
1592. R. D., trans. Hypnerotomachia, 97. Hils couered ouer with green trees of a conspicuous thicknes.
1667. Pepys, Diary (1879), IV. 415. These Rogues … to be hung in some conspicuous place in the town, for an example.
1667. Milton, P. L., IV. 545. A Rock Of Alablaster, pil’d up to the Clouds, Conspicuous farr.
1808. Scott, Marm., II. xi. Conspicuous by her veil and hood.
1840. Macaulay, Clive, 47. Conspicuous in the ranks of the little army.
2. Obvious to the mental eye, plainly evident; attracting notice or attention, striking; hence, eminent, remarkable, noteworthy.
1613. R. C., Table Alph. (ed. 3), Conspicuous, easie to be seene, excellent.
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., I. x. 44. To be Conspicuous, that is to say, to be known for Wealth … or any eminent Good, is Honourable.
1845. S. Austin, Ranke’s Hist. Ref., III. 209. Frankfurt—a city so conspicuous for its loyalty to the imperial house.
1876. J. H. Newman, Hist. Sk., I. I. iii. 131. Sultan Soliman, who plays so conspicuous a part in Tasso’s celebrated Poem.
b. Phr. Conspicuous by its absence.
1847. Standard, 18 May, 2/1. He [the Earl of Ellesmere] was also standing there at the earnest desire of a noble friend of his, of whim he might say, in reference to this subject, what was said of a celebrated Roman on the occasion of his absence from a great procession that had taken place to his honour—that he was more conspicuous by his absence from either house of parliament than by his presence on such an occasion.
1859. Ld. J. Russell, Addr. Electors of Lond. Among the defects of the Bill, which were numerous, one provision was conspicuous by its presence, and one by its absence. Ibid. (1859), Sp. at Lond. Tavern, 15 April. I alluded to it as ‘a provision conspicuous by its absence,’ a turn of phraseology which is not an original expression of mine, but is taken from one of the greatest historians of antiquity. [Tacitus, Ann., III. 76.]
1875. Bryce, Holy Rom. Emp., xv. (ed. 5), 287. Those monuments which do exist are just sufficient to make the absence of all others more conspicuous.
1878. W. A. Wright, Note on Shaks. Jul. C., II. i. 70. 124. Cassius had married Junia, Brutus’ sister…. At her funeral in A.D. 22 the images of Brutus and Cassius were conspicuous by their absence, or as Tacitus (Ann. iii. 76) puts it, ‘sed praefulgebant Cassius atque Brutus, eo ipso, quod effigies eorum non visebantur.’
