Meaning & use
invisible
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Impossible to see, because it is hidden, clear, too small or too faint to notice.
Grammar: Can follow be or come before a noun: an invisible thread; the stars were invisible.
Patterns
- invisible to something
- invisible to the naked eye
Germs are invisible to the naked eye.
The glass was so clean it looked invisible.
Clouds made the stars invisible tonight.
adjectivecomparablefigurative
Not noticed or taken seriously by other people, as though you were not there.
Grammar: Figurative; often with feel or become: she felt invisible at work.
Patterns
- feel invisible
- become invisible
Older workers sometimes feel invisible in the office.
He felt invisible at the party; nobody spoke to him.
Homeless people can become invisible to passersby.
adjectivebefore a nounbusiness
Not shown in official records, accounts or statistics, though still real.
Grammar: Technical use before a noun: invisible earnings.
Patterns
- invisible earnings
- invisible costs
Tourism was a major source of invisible earnings.
Hidden fees are invisible costs for customers.
Unpaid care work is largely invisible in the figures.
Common combinations
- invisible to the naked eye
- The virus is invisible to the naked eye.
- virtually invisible
- The scar is virtually invisible now.
- invisible ink
- The children wrote secret notes in invisible ink.
- render invisible
- The fog rendered the road invisible.
- invisible barrier
- An invisible barrier kept the cattle in the field.
- feel invisible
- After the move, she felt invisible at her new school.
Synonyms and how they differ
- unseen
- Unseen means not yet seen or not noticed, while invisible means it cannot be seen at all.
- hidden
- Hidden means deliberately or accidentally covered, so it could be seen if uncovered.
- imperceptible
- Imperceptible suggests something too slight to notice by any sense, not only sight.
- undetectable
- Undetectable is a technical word for something that tests or instruments cannot find.
Opposites
Word family
- invisibly adverb
- in a way that cannot be seen
- invisibility noun
- the state of not being seen
- visible adjective
- able to be seen
- vision noun
- the ability to see
Commonly confused: invisible or intangible?
invisible vs intangible
Intangible means cannot be touched or measured, like a feeling. Invisible means cannot be seen.
Practice
Which sentence uses invisible in a figurative sense?
Choose one answer.
Only the student sentence is about feeling ignored. The other three describe things that cannot be physically seen.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “invisible”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.