transparent

transparent
    adj 1: transmitting light; able to be seen through with clarity;
           "the cold crystalline water of melted snow"; "crystal
           clear skies"; "could see the sand on the bottom of the
           limpid pool"; "lucid air"; "a pellucid brook";
           "transparent crystal" [syn: {crystalline}, {crystal
           clear}, {limpid}, {lucid}, {pellucid}, {transparent}]
    2: so thin as to transmit light; "a hat with a diaphanous veil";
       "filmy wings of a moth"; "gauzy clouds of dandelion down";
       "gossamer cobwebs"; "sheer silk stockings"; "transparent
       chiffon"; "vaporous silks" [syn: {diaphanous}, {filmy},
       {gauzy}, {gauze-like}, {gossamer}, {see-through}, {sheer},
       {transparent}, {vaporous}, {vapourous}, {cobwebby}]
    3: free of deceit [syn: {guileless}, {transparent}]
    4: easily understood or seen through (because of a lack of
       subtlety); "a transparent explanation"; "a transparent lie"
    

Transparent \Trans*par"ent\, a. [F., from LL. transparens,
   -entis, p. pr. of transparere to be transparent; L. trans
   across, through + parere to appear. See {Appear}.]
   1. Having the property of transmitting rays of light, so that
      bodies can be distinctly seen through; pervious to light;
      diaphanous; pellucid; as, transparent glass; a transparent
      diamond; -- opposed to {opaque}. "Transparent elemental
      air." --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Admitting the passage of light; open; porous; as, a
      transparent veil. --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: Translucent; pellucid; clear; bright; limpid; lucid;
        diaphanous. See {Translucent}.
        [1913 Webster] -- {Trans*par"ent*ly}, adv. --
        {Trans*par"ent*ness}, n.
        [1913 Webster]
    

transparent

   1. <jargon> Not visible, hidden; said of a system which
   functions in a manner not evident to the user.  For example,
   the {Domain Name System} transparently resolves a {fully
   qualified domain name} into an {IP address} without the
   user being aware of it.

   Compare this to what Donald Norman
   (http://atg.apple.com/Norman/) calls "invisibility",
   which he illustrates from the user's point of view:

   "You use computers when you use many modern automobiles,
   microwave ovens, games, CD players and calculators.  You don't
   notice the computer because you think of yourself as doing the
   task, not as using the computer."  ["The Design of Everyday
   Things", New York, Doubleday, 1989, p. 185].

   2. <theory> Fully defined, known, predictable; said of a
   sub-system in which matters generally subject to volition or
   stochastic state change have been chosen, measured, or
   determined by the environment.  Thus for transparent systems,
   output is a known function of the inputs, and users can both
   predict the behaviour and depend upon it.

   (1996-06-04)
    

106 Moby Thesaurus words for "transparent":
      apparent, articulate, artless, bluff, blunt, broad, brusque,
      candid, clean-cut, clear, clear as crystal, clear as day,
      clear as glass, clear-cut, cloudless, coherent, connected,
      consistent, crisp, crystal, crystal-clear, crystalline, defined,
      definite, diaphane, diaphanous, direct, distinct, distinguishable,
      downright, evident, explicit, express, filmy, flimsy, forthright,
      frank, frankhearted, free, free-speaking, free-spoken,
      free-tongued, gauzy, genuine, glassy, gossamer, gossamery,
      guileless, heart-to-heart, ingenuous, light, light-pervious,
      lightish, lightsome, limpid, loud and clear, lucent, lucid,
      luculent, luminous, manifest, naive, nonopaque, obvious,
      on the level, open, openhearted, outspoken, patent, peekaboo,
      pellucid, perspicuous, plain, plain-spoken, recognizable, relucent,
      revealing, round, see-through, serene, sheer, simple, sincere,
      straight, straight-out, straightforward, thin, translucent,
      translucid, transpicuous, unambiguous, unchecked, unclouded,
      unconfused, unconstrained, understandable, undisguised,
      undissembling, unequivocal, unguarded, univocal, unmistakable,
      unobscured, unreserved, unrestrained, well-defined