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Obvious vs Discreet - What's the difference?

obvious | discreet |

As adjectives the difference between obvious and discreet

is that obvious is easily discovered, seen, or understood; self-explanatory while discreet is respectful of privacy or secrecy; quiet; diplomatic.

obvious

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Easily discovered, seen, or understood; self-explanatory.
  • *
  • *:Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations. It is easily earned repetition to state that Josephine St. Auban's was a presence not to be concealed.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-17, volume=408, issue=8849, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Down towns , passage=It is not obvious , to economists anyway, that cities should exist at all. Crowds of people mean congestion and costly land and labour. But there are also well-known advantages to bunching up. When transport costs are sufficiently high a firm can spend more money shipping goods to clusters of consumers than it saves on cheap land and labour.}}

    Synonyms

    * See also .

    Antonyms

    * unobvious * non-obvious * subtle

    Derived terms

    * obviously * obviousness

    See also

    * plain * clear * evident * manifest

    discreet

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Respectful of privacy or secrecy; quiet; diplomatic.
  • With a discreet gesture, she reminded him to mind his manners.
    John just doesn't understand that laughing at Mary all day is not very discreet .
  • Not drawing attention, anger or challenge; inconspicuous.
  • Usage notes

    * Do not confuse with discrete .

    Derived terms

    * discreetly * discretion

    Anagrams

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