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INVISIBLE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not prominent or readily noticeable
Example:
the invisible man
Synonyms:
inconspicuous; invisible
Classified under:
Similar:
obscure; unnoticeable (not drawing attention)
Attribute:
conspicuousness (high visibility)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Impossible or nearly impossible to see; imperceptible by the eye
Example:
invisible mending
Synonyms:
invisible; unseeable
Classified under:
Similar:
camouflaged (made invisible by means of protective coloring)
concealed; hidden; out of sight (not accessible to view)
infrared (having or employing wavelengths longer than light but shorter than radio waves; lying outside the visible spectrum at its red end)
lightless (giving no light)
nonvisual (not resulting in vision)
occult (hidden and difficult to see)
ultraviolet (having or employing wavelengths shorter than light but longer than X-rays; lying outside the visible spectrum at its violet end)
undetectable (not easily seen)
unseen (not seen or perceived)
Also:
covert (secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed)
imperceptible; unperceivable (impossible or difficult to perceive by the mind or senses)
Antonym:
visible (capable of being seen; or open to easy view)
Derivation:
invisibility; invisibleness (the quality of not being perceivable by the eye)
Context examples:
The second jet, by contrast, is moving so rapidly away from us that the relativistic effects render it invisible at all wavelengths.
(The Giant Galaxy Around the Giant Black Hole, NASA)
Then she gave him a cloak, and said, “As soon as you put that on you will become invisible, and you will then be able to follow the princesses wherever they go.”
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
She placed a bar of iron in the middle of the kitchen floor, and then by her magic arts made the iron invisible to human eyes.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
Each drop of seawater contains hundreds of thousands of microorganisms — organisms so small that they are invisible to the naked human eye.
(Study by UGR and MIT reveals microbial plankton live in complex communities, University of Granada)
Graphene is invisible to the unaided eye, yet harder than diamonds, stronger than steel, and more conductive than copper.
(Graphene shield shows promise in blocking mosquito bites, National Institutes of Health)
Mr. March became invisible in the embrace of four pairs of loving arms.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
The woman’s disappearance counts for nothing, since in that extraordinary household any member of it might be invisible for a week.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
She dashed invisible tears from her eyes.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
They have acquired new and almost unlimited powers; they can command the thunders of heaven, mimic the earthquake, and even mock the invisible world with its own shadows.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
The radiation emitted is usually of longer wavelength than that incident or absorbed, e.g., a substance can be irradiated with invisible radiation and emit visible light.
(Fluorescence, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)
