Deimatic behaviour in animals means any pattern of threatening or startling behaviour, such as suddenly displaying conspicuous eyespots, so as to scare off or momentarily distract a predator, thus giving the prey animal an opportunity to escape.
In the corner of the room sits Fanning's manager, a petite, smiling woman, conspicuous suddenly in her silence.
If you're not a great student, it can seem kind of conspicuous if suddenly you turn in homework with all correct answers.
Having previously been a distant speck in David Cameron's rear-view mirror, the Labour leader has suddenly accelerated into a more conspicuous position.
She was so excited that she was wearing a red Falcons jersey bearing Ryan's name and No. 2. Amid a human garden suddenly sprouting No. 2s, Crooms was conspicuous for one reason: she is African-American.
It was a big bruise that was conspicuous even in the candlelight, and Nina suddenly got upset.
Depending on the vagaries of climate, diet and bear, the build-up to this moment can be conspicuous and last for weeks, or it can arrive suddenly, with no warning at all.
Suddenly the gap between themselves and their characters has become a little too conspicuous for credibility.
Strokes of precision chefliness — for example, a deliciously fishy Provençale fish soup with no discernible fish in it — can seem conspicuous in a place where waiters take your wine hostage, and then suddenly sneak up to pour some of it in a glass you have just thirstily half-filled with water.
But the nation's Sikhs, conspicuous in turbans that resemble the head wrap of suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden, have suddenly found themselves particularly vulnerable.
Suddenly, small-scale marijuana purchases and the like, mainly overlooked to spare an overburdened penal system, would become conspicuous.
