hidden in plain sight
4
4.8
- idiom
- Informal
- Someone once defined a genius as a person who could find something hidden in plain sight.
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Watch on YouTubeAnd they were hidden in plain sight for a century.
- And they were hidden in plain sight for a century.
- What's in here is something that's hidden in plain sight, yet nobody talks about it.
- There were hidden in plain sight some lucky slaves.
Examples
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What's in here is something that's hidden in plain sight, yet nobody talks about it.
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And they were hidden in plain sight for a century.
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To think that such things are hidden in plain sight!
Blog text (28) -
In other words, they discover the secret that has been hidden in plain sight.
Academic text (2004) -
Everything, it seems, about the BBC Trust is hidden in plain sight.
Blog text (8) -
The plan has always been hidden in plain sight under these two guises.
Blog text (34) -
The important clues were hidden in plain sight, overlooked by everyone in the room.
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Many insights about our behavior are hidden in plain sight within our daily routines.
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The treasures were hidden in plain sight, visible to anyone who knew where to look.
Synonyms
801
1.1
A thing that is not easily seen or found
339
6.0
Not easy to notice or understand because it is small
319
2.7
Not easy for other people to notice
63
2.5
Other people do not see or pay attention to it
52
3.2
Hidden so people do not notice it
45
5.2
People do not notice it because someone keeps it quiet
43
4.6
Not found or noticed by others
17
4.9
Very close and easy to see but not noticed
15
6.9
Not easy to see or notice
4
6.6
Not easily seen or noticed
2
4.6
Hard to see or notice
1
7.8
Hard to notice or understand at first
1
7.4
Not easy to see or understand without careful thinking
1
7.9
Not easily seen, noticed, or understood
1
8.3
Seen by only a few people
1
8.1
Hard to see or notice
Something that almost no one notices
Antonyms
How Noticeable
∞
1.0
- Informal
4
4.8
65
3.2
23
4.0
63
2.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly inferable from the constituents: 'hidden' (not seen) combined with the locative phrase 'in plain sight' (clearly visible) creates the readily understandable idea of something being visible yet unnoticed. This paradoxical but compositional logic is common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the component words can deduce the intended meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
Hidden in plain sight creates a clear image: something is hidden while standing in full view, right in plain sight. Because people expect hidden things to be out of view, they often do not notice it, so the phrase means 'easily seen but not noticed'.