Meanings
comparative more inconspicuous · superlative most inconspicuous
- Invisible.First known use 1620s
Synonyms: inapparent, nonvisible, unconspicuous, disapparent, inapparent, invis, invisible, inviso · Antonyms: visible, apparent, eyely, seeable, spottable, viewable, visible
- Not prominent nor easily noticeable.First known use 1828
Look at those men! They were supposed to be inconspicuous!
1953, Dalton Trumbo, Ian McLellan Hunter, John Dighton, Roman Holiday, spoken by General Provno1 more example
Approaching danger, whether from octopus, fish or man, arouses caution in a small mollusk and it becomes as inconspicuous as it can.
2004, Shell Oil Company, Let's Collect Rocks and Shells, Kessinger Publishing Co., page 9Synonyms: improminent, inevident, obscure · Antonyms: conspicuous, attention-grabbing, conspicuous, eye-catching, flashy, glossy, grabby, high-profile
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveInvisible.
adjectiveNot prominent nor easily noticeable.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Late Latinincōnspicuus
- Englishinconspicuous
Learned borrowing from Late Latin incōnspicuus. Equivalent to in- + conspicuous.
More words from Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic غَيْرُ ظَاهِر
- غَيْرُ ظَاهِر (ḡayru ẓāhir)not prominent or easily noticeable
Bulgarian незабележим, незабелязващ се
- незабележим (nezabeležim)not prominent or easily noticeable
- незабелязващ се (nezabeljazvašt se)not prominent or easily noticeable
- неотличим (neotličim)not prominent or easily noticeable
- неотличаващ се (neotličavašt se)not prominent or easily noticeable
Czech nenápadný
- nenápadnýnot prominent or easily noticeable
Dutch onopvallend
- onopvallendnot prominent or easily noticeable
Finnish huomiota herättämätön, huomaamaton
- huomiota herättämätönnot prominent or easily noticeable
- huomaamatonnot prominent or easily noticeable
French discret
- discretnot prominent or easily noticeable
German unauffällig
- unauffällignot prominent or easily noticeable
Hungarian alig észrevehető, nem feltűnő
- alig észrevehetőnot prominent or easily noticeable
- nem feltűnőnot prominent or easily noticeable
- feltűnésmentesnot prominent or easily noticeable
- diszkrétnot prominent or easily noticeable
- semlegesnot prominent or easily noticeable
- jellegtelennot prominent or easily noticeable
- jelentéktelennot prominent or easily noticeable
- észrevétlennot prominent or easily noticeable
- észrevehetetlennot prominent or easily noticeable
Norwegian Bokmål uanselig, upåfallende
- uanselignot prominent or easily noticeable
- upåfallendenot prominent or easily noticeable
Polish niewidoczny, niezauważalny
- niewidocznynot prominent or easily noticeable
- niezauważalnynot prominent or easily noticeable
- nierzucający się w oczynot prominent or easily noticeable
- niepozornynot prominent or easily noticeable
Portuguese discreto, inconspícuo
- discretonot prominent or easily noticeable
- inconspícuonot prominent or easily noticeable
Russian незаме́тный
- незаме́тный (nezamétnyj)not prominent or easily noticeable
Slovak nenápadný
- nenápadnýnot prominent or easily noticeable
Spanish disimulado, desapercibido
- disimuladonot prominent or easily noticeable
- desapercibidonot prominent or easily noticeable
- discretonot prominent or easily noticeable
Swedish oansenlig, diskret
- oansenlignot prominent or easily noticeable
- diskretnot prominent or easily noticeable
- tillbakadragennot prominent or easily noticeable
- undangömdnot prominent or easily noticeable
- fördoldnot prominent or easily noticeable
- doldnot prominent or easily noticeable
- förstulennot prominent or easily noticeable
- omärklignot prominent or easily noticeable
Ukrainian непримітний, непомі́тний
- непримітний (neprymitnyj)not prominent or easily noticeable
- непомі́тний (nepomítnyj)not prominent or easily noticeable
Cite this entry
inconspicuous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inconspicuous
“inconspicuous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inconspicuous. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “inconspicuous,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inconspicuous.
Source: inconspicuous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.