Dictionary

blatant en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈbleɪtənt/
• blā'tənt
• (US) audio

Etymology

Coined by Edmund Spenser in 1596 in "blatant beast". Probably a variation of *blatand (Scots blaitand (“bleating”)), present participle of blate, a variation of bleat, equivalent to blate + -ant. See bleat. In addition, it is suggested by Latin blatiō (“speak like a fool, prate”), which is rare, and so the similitude may be just coincidental. Compare typologically Bulgarian вопиющ (vopijušt), Russian вопию́щий (vopijúščij) (akin to вопи́ть (vopítʹ)).

Meanings

1. Obvious, on show; unashamed; loudly obtrusive or offensive.
   • He tried to think out what those two men had which so strangely attracted her. They both had a vulgar facetiousness which tickled her simple sense of humour, and a certain coarseness of nature; but what took her perhaps was the blatant sexuality which was their most marked characteristic. 1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter LXXVIII, in Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC:
   • WikiLeaks did not cause these uprisings but it certainly informed them. The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected, […]. They also exposed the blatant discrepancy between the west's professed values and actual foreign policies. 2013 June 7, Gary Younge, “Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, archived from the original on 06 Jun 2019, page 18:
   • a blatant breach of good faith in the negotiation
   • So bare-faced that no one can miss such a blatant lie.
   • Glory, that blatant word, which haunts some military minds like the bray of the trumpet. 1855–1859, Washington Irving, The Life of George Washington:
   • London died away in draggled taverns and dreary scrubs, and then was unaccountably born again in blazing high streets and blatant hotels. 1910 July 23, G[ilbert] K[eith] Chesterton, “The Blue Cross”, in The Innocence of Father Brown, London; New York, N.Y.: Cassell and Company, published 1911, →OCLC:
2. (archaic) Bellowing; disagreeably clamorous; sounding loudly and harshly.
   • A blatant bugle tears my afternoons. / Out clump the clumsy Tommies by platoons, / Trying to keep in step with rag-time tunes, / But I sit still; I've done my drill. 1918, Wilfred Owen, The Calls:
   • A monster, which the Blatant beast men call. 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 37:
   • harsh and blatant tones 1859, Richard Henry Dana Jr., To Cuba and Back:

Forms

Antonyms

furtive

Deriveds

blatantness · blatantly

Synonyms

ostentatious · gay · tasteless · zesty · gauche · tawdry · corny · chichi · clear cut · schlocky · evident · froufrou · decided · blingish · snazzy · gaudy · crystal clear · brash · bedizened · prima facie · plain as a haystack · straightforward · tacky · naff · clear as a bell · unbecoming · plain as print · blatant · conspicuous · flashy · plain as Dunstable highway · meretricious · too much · elucidate · gross · plain as the nose on one's face · plain as a pikestaff · chintzy · notable · showy · pizazzy · trinkety · raffish · blatant · kitsch · eyely · plain as Salisbury · palpable · bait · undoubted · noticeable · cut and dried · vain · gussied up · intuitive · flaunting · clear as day · clear · plain as day · plain as porridge · crude · glaring · apparent · splendiferous · ostentatious · loud · splendent · garish · ritzy · obtrusive · catchpenny · res ipsa loquitur · pretentious · glaring · kitschy · whorish · ostensible · florid · campy · arrant · flossy · obvious · untasteful · hideous · crass · tinselly · plain · undissembled · manifest · patent · open-and-shut · pimped out

Translations (69)

sv uppenbar (obvious, on show) · ru вопию́щий (obvious, on show) · ca flagrant (obvious, on show) · ro ostentativ (obvious, on show) · fi räikeä (obvious, on show) · nl openlijk (obvious, on show) · pt gritante (obvious, on show) · bg шумен (bellowing, clamoring; disagreeably clamorous) · de eklatant (obvious, on show) · bg креслив (bellowing, clamoring; disagreeably clamorous) · fr clair (obvious, on show) · de krass (obvious, on show) · cs do nebe volající (obvious, on show) · ar مُبِين (obvious, on show) · pl rażący (obvious, on show) · bg очевиден (obvious, on show) · it appariscente (obvious, on show) · hu zajos (bellowing, clamoring; disagreeably clamorous) · pt escancarado (obvious, on show) · it vistoso (obvious, on show) · cs flagrantní (obvious, on show) · ru вульга́рный (bellowing, clamoring; disagreeably clamorous) · ru крикли́вый (bellowing, clamoring; disagreeably clamorous) · it ovvio (obvious, on show) · fr manifeste (obvious, on show) · sh upadljiv (obvious, on show) · pl krzykliwy (obvious, on show) · sh blatantan (obvious, on show) · ru очеви́дный (obvious, on show) · es descarado (obvious, on show) · sh drečeći (bellowing, clamoring; disagreeably clamorous) · es sin disimulo (obvious, on show) · cs bezostyšný (obvious, on show) · bg явен (obvious, on show) · nl schaamteloos (obvious, on show) · es estentóreo (bellowing, clamoring; disagreeably clamorous) · fi häpeämätön (bellowing, clamoring; disagreeably clamorous) · fr flagrant (obvious, on show) · fr fieffé (obvious, on show) · sh flagrantan (obvious, on show) · sh blatantan (bellowing, clamoring; disagreeably clamorous) · it macroscopico (bellowing, clamoring; disagreeably clamorous) · it assordante (bellowing, clamoring; disagreeably clamorous) · pt evidente (obvious, on show) · ro zbierător (bellowing, clamoring; disagreeably clamorous) · fi räikeä (bellowing, clamoring; disagreeably clamorous) · bg вопиющ (obvious, on show) · fr éhonté (obvious, on show) · ia vistose (obvious, on show) · th โจ่งแจ้ง (obvious, on show) · ru показно́й (obvious, on show) · ro evident (obvious, on show) · es saltante (obvious, on show) · fi selvä (obvious, on show) · pt óbvio (obvious, on show) · it fragoroso (bellowing, clamoring; disagreeably clamorous) · cs do očí bijící (obvious, on show) · ro țipător (obvious, on show) · de offensichtlich (obvious, on show) · fi selkeä (obvious, on show) · fi julkea (bellowing, clamoring; disagreeably clamorous) · it gigantesco (bellowing, clamoring; disagreeably clamorous) · it chiassoso (bellowing, clamoring; disagreeably clamorous) · es estruendoso (bellowing, clamoring; disagreeably clamorous) · nl klinkklaar (obvious, on show) · sh napadan (obvious, on show) · de himmelschreiend (obvious, on show) · de brüllend (bellowing, clamoring; disagreeably clamorous) · ru я́вный (obvious, on show)