Adjective

(en adjective)

Obvious or easy to notice.

* {{quote-book, year=1928, author=Lawrence R. Bourne

, title=Well Tackled! , chapter=7 citation , passage=“No, don't,” replied the superintendent; “in fact, I'd rather you made yourself conspicuous elsewhere. Go down to the landing stage and cross to New Brighton or Wallasey—doesn't matter which—and come back. No doubt you will be seen, and reported to have gone across.”}}

He was conspicuous by his absence.

Noticeable or attracting attention, especially if unattractive.

* 1969 , Saul Bellow, Mr Sammler's Planet , Penguin Books Ltd, page 6:

For his height he had a small face. The combination made him conspicuous .

He had a conspicuous lump on his forehead.

Adjective

(-)

(obsolete) Pertaining only to a part of something; partial.

Specific; discrete; concrete.

I couldn't find the particular model you asked for, but I hope this one will do.

We knew it was named after John Smith, but nobody knows which particular John Smith.

* Shakespeare

[Make] each particular hair to stand an end, / Like quills upon the fretful porpentine.

Specialised; characteristic of a specific person or thing.

I don't appreciate your particular brand of cynicism.

* Francis Bacon

wheresoever one plant draweth such a particular juice out of the earth

(obsolete) Known only to an individual person or group; confidential.

* 1623 , William Shakespeare, King Lear , V.1:

or these domesticke and particular broiles, Are not the question heere.

Distinguished in some way; special (often in negative constructions).

My five favorite places are, in no particular order, New York, Chicago, Paris, San Francisco and London.

I didn't have any particular interest in the book.

He brought no particular news.

She was the particular belle of the party.

(comparable) Of a person, concerned with, or attentive to, details; minute; precise; fastidious.

He is very particular about his food and if it isn't cooked to perfection he will send it back.

Concerned with, or attentive to, details; minute; circumstantial; precise.

a full and particular account of an accident

(legal) Containing a part only; limited.

a particular estate, or one precedent to an estate in remainder

(legal) Holding a particular estate.

a particular tenant

(Blackstone)

(logic) Forming a part of a genus; relatively limited in extension; affirmed or denied of a part of a subject.

a particular proposition, opposed to "universal", e.g. (particular affirmative) "Some men are wise"; (particular negative) "Some men are not wise".