Salient vs Conspicuous - What's the difference?
salient | conspicuous |
Worthy of note; pertinent or relevant.
Prominent; conspicuous.
* Bancroft
(heraldry, usually of a quadruped) Depicted in a leaping posture.
Projecting outwards, pointing outwards.
(obsolete) Moving by leaps or springs; jumping.
* Sir Thomas Browne
(obsolete) Shooting out up; springing; projecting.
* Burke
(military) an outwardly projecting part of a fortification, trench system, or line of defense
Obvious or easy to notice.
* {{quote-book, year=1928, author=Lawrence R. Bourne
, title=Well Tackled!
, chapter=7 Noticeable or attracting attention, especially if unattractive.
* 1969 , Saul Bellow, Mr Sammler's Planet , Penguin Books Ltd, page 6:
As adjectives the difference between salient and conspicuous
is that salient is worthy of note; pertinent or relevant while conspicuous is obvious or easy to notice.As a noun salient
is an outwardly projecting part of a fortification, trench system, or line of defense.salient
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- The article is not exhaustive, but it covers the salient points pretty well.
- He [Grenville] had neither salient traits, nor general comprehensiveness of mind.
- a lion salient
- a salient angle
- frogs and salient animals
- He had in himself a salient , living spring of generous and manly action.
Quotations
{{timeline, 1800s=1878 1898, 1900s=1936}} * 1878 , , Book 2, chapter 5: *: With nearer approach these fragmentary sounds became pieced together, and were found to be the salient points of the tune called "Nancy's Fancy." * 1898 , Book2, chapter 2: *: The last salient point in which the systems of these creatures differed from ours was in what one might have thought a very trivial particular. * 1936 , : *: Warning me that many of the street signs were down, the youth drew for my benefit a rough but ample and painstaking sketch map of the town's salient features.Antonyms
* (prominent) obscure, trivialDerived terms
* salient pointNoun
(en noun)Derived terms
* salient poleAnagrams
* ----conspicuous
English
Adjective
(en adjective)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.
- For his height he had a small face. The combination made him conspicuous .
- He had a conspicuous lump on his forehead.
