- invisible
- [[t]ɪnvɪ̱zɪb(ə)l[/t]]
invisibles1) ADJ-GRADED: usu v-link ADJ If you describe something as invisible, you mean that it cannot be seen, for example because it is transparent, hidden, or very small.
The lines were so finely etched as to be invisible from a distance...
The belt is invisible even under the thinnest garments.
Ant:Derived words:invisibly [[t]ɪnvɪ̱zɪbli[/t]] ADV ADV with vA thin coil of smoke rose almost invisibly into the sharp, bright sky.
2) ADJ: ADJ n You can use invisible when you are talking about something that cannot be seen but has a definite effect. In this sense, invisible is often used before a noun which refers to something that can usually be seen.All the time you are in doubt about the cause of your illness, you are fighting against an invisible enemy...
Her father's face had suddenly tightened as though he was being strangled by invisible hands.
Derived words:3) ADJ-GRADED If you say that you feel invisible, you are complaining that you are being ignored by other people. If you say that a particular problem or situation is invisible, you are complaining that it is not being considered or dealt with.It was strange, how invisible a clerk could feel...
The problems of the poor are largely invisible.
Derived words:invisibility [[t]ɪnvɪ̱zɪbɪ̱lɪti[/t]] N-UNCOUNTShe takes up the issue of the invisibility of women and women's concerns in society.
4) ADJ In stories, invisible people or things have a magic quality which makes people unable to see them....The Invisible Man.
5) ADJ: ADJ n In economics, invisible earnings are the money that a country makes as a result of services such as banking and tourism, rather than by producing goods. [TECHNICAL]The revenue from tourism is the biggest single item in the country's invisible earnings...
The invisible trade surplus was ₤900 million lower than reported.
Ant:6) N-PLURAL Invisibles are services such as banking and tourism, which provide a country's invisible earnings. [mainly BRIT, TECHNICAL]
English dictionary. 2008.
