See Also: CLARITY, VISIBILITY

1. (The magnificence of the Ambersons was) as conspicuous as a brass band at a funeral —Booth Tarkington
2. As conspicuous … as a butterfly among moths —George Feifer
3. As conspicuous as a second nose —Mike Sommer
4. As conspicuous as two fleas in a glass of milk, and about as welcome —Rosa Guy
5. Blatant as a slammed door —George Garrett
6. Her face was as easy to read as a crooked optometrist’s chart —Loren D. Estleman
7. It was written all over him [that he was prone to trouble] in letters like headlines —William Humphrey
8. Magnificence, like the size of a fortune, is always comparative —Booth Tarkington
9. Noticeable as perfume —Wallace Stegner
10. (The film has a payoff that’s as) obvious as a cream pie in the face —Gene Siskel, television review, October 13, 1986
11. Obvious as a gesture —Stephen Crane
12. Obvious as an elephant’s footprint —Anon
13. (Those two guys can’t move around … without being) obvious as turds on butcher blocks —Harold Adams
14. Obvious, like a poster forty feet high —J. B. Priestly
15. (Her thoughts and her emotions had all been) outspread … like jewels —Edith Wharton
16. Plain as a pig on a sofa —Flannery O’Connor
17. (The case was as) plain as a pikestaff —Arthur Train
18. Plain as graffiti on a brick wall —Elyse Sommer
19. Plain as the nose on a man’s face —Rabelais

    A variation by Robert Burton: “As clear and as manifest as the nose on a man’s face.”

20. Plain as the paint on a whore’s face —Stephen Longstreet
21. Stick out like a pregnant woman’s stomach —Anon
22. (He was) subtle as a salvo —Jonathan Gash
23. There’s no one so transparent as the person who thinks he’s devilish deep —W. Somerset Maugham
24. Transparent as water in a goldfish bowl —Anon
25. Unobtrusive as the roar of a lion —Erich Maria Remarque

plain as a pikestaff Plain as day, obvious, clear-cut, evident. This proverbial expression, dating from the late 16th century, is a variant of the earlier, now obsolete, plain as a packstaff. The allusion is to the simple style and plain, smooth surface of a pikestaff, a type of walking stick with a metal point at the lower end.

plain as the nose on your face Exceedingly obvious; extremely conspicuous. This concept was conveyed by Shakespeare in The Two Gentlemen of Verona:

The expression, clearly derived from the prominence of the nose on the human face, has maintained common usage through the centuries.

point-blank See CANDIDNESS.