different between obvious vs perspicuous

English

Etymology

16th century, from Latin obvius (“being in the way so as to meet, meeting, easy to access, at hand, ready, obvious”), from ob- (“before”) + via (“way”). In order to avoid an awkward form such as *obvy, the Latin ending -us was maintained in the form -ous (which is otherwise equivalent to Latin -osus).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /??b.vi.?s/, (fast speech) /??.vi.?s/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??b.v??s/, /??.v??s/, (fast speech) /??v.j?s/
• Hyphenation: ob?vi?ous

Adjective

obvious (comparative more obvious, superlative most obvious)

1. 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.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:obvious.

Antonyms

• unobvious
• non-obvious
• subtle

Derived terms

• obviously
• obviousness

Translations

See also

• clear
• evident
• manifest
• plain

Further reading

• obvious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• obvious in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

English

Etymology

From Latin perspicuus, in turn from perspici? (“see through”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /p??sp?kju??s/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /p??sp?kju??s/

Adjective

perspicuous (comparative more perspicuous, superlative most perspicuous)

1. Clearly expressed, easy to understand; lucid.
   • 1776, Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Book I, Chapter 4,

     I am always willing to run some hazard of being tedious in order to be sure that I am perspicuous […]

2. (logic) Of a language or notation, such as that of formal propositional calculus: where the process of inference from premises to conclusion is explicitly laid out.
3. (rare) Transparent; translucent.

Synonyms

• (clearly expressed): See also Thesaurus:comprehensible
• (transparent): See also Thesaurus:transparent

Antonyms

• (clearly expressed): See also Thesaurus:incomprehensible
• (transparent): See also Thesaurus:opaque
• imperspicuous

Derived terms

• perspicuously
• perspicuousness

Related terms

Translations

References

• John A. Simpson and Edward S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) , “perspicuous”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ?ISBN