prominent

Pluralprominents

1. 1
   adjective

   Eminent and widely respected; ranking above others in importance or reputation.

   The conference attracted several prominent economists from leading universities.

   He became a prominent figure in the civil rights movement.

   Similardistinguished, eminent, notable, remarkable, noteworthy

   Oppositeunknown, obscure, minor, undistinguished

2. 2
   adjective

   Likely to draw attention because of its size or position; highly noticeable.

   The museum gave the painting a prominent spot at the entrance.

   Her scar was prominent enough to notice from across the room.

   Similarconspicuous, eye-catching, noticeable, flashy

   Oppositeinconspicuous, unobtrusive, obscure, hidden

3. 3
   adjective

   Standing out from a surface; projecting or jutting outward.

   The statue's prominent nose was its most striking feature.

   Veins stood prominent on the back of his weathered hands.

   Similaroutstanding, protuberant

   Oppositeflat, sunken, receding

   Note

   The literal sense, and the one closest to the Latin: prōminēns, the present participle of prōmineō, "to jut out", from prō "forward" and mineō "project". It suits physical features and landforms, such as a prominent ledge, nose or vein. Outstanding once shared this meaning, though readers now hear praise in it. What juts out catches the eye, which is how the "conspicuous" meaning grew from this one.

4. 4
   nounhistoricalcountable

   In Nazi concentration camps, an inmate given minor supervisory duties over fellow prisoners and rewarded with special privileges.

   The prominent distributed the bread rations and reported any trouble to the guards.

   Survivors recalled how a single prominent could make daily life easier or unbearable.

   Note

   A historians' term for camp inmates who held small powers over other prisoners and lived somewhat better for it. Keep it to the Nazi camps, where it names a specific role. Its plural is prominents. Leona Toker's Gulag Literature and the Literature of Nazi Camps (2019) describes scholarship moving from condemning all or most prominents toward a more nuanced understanding of their compromised position.

5. 5
   nouncountable

   Any of various moths distinguished by a conspicuous projection along the inner margin of the wings.

   The collector pinned a freshly caught prominent beside its handwritten label.

   At dusk, a prominent settled on the oak, its wing tuft clearly visible.

   Note

   A naturalist's name taken from the moth's own anatomy. The projection on the inner wing margin is prominent in the jutting sense, and the adjective simply became a noun. Entomologists also call these moths notodontids. Prominent moth is the clearer form when the bare word might be read as an adjective. It takes an ordinary plural: prominents.

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