But he was right; the visit proved a conspicuous failure.
As noted earlier, there has been a conspicuous failure upon the part of politicians in particular to say what they mean by the term.
For more than a year, the Eighth Air Force was a conspicuous failure.
We find ourselves, at a parallel moment, militarily committed to a policy on the verge of conspicuous failure.
IDE was very quickly seen as a 'conspicuous failure'.
But he has had conspicuous failures as well.
Perhaps the most conspicuous failure, however, involves the hugely contentious subject of global warming.
If Geffen has had one conspicuous failure, it is a personal one: his inability to maintain a long-term relationship.
Its conspicuous failure to catch one of the world's most wanted men stirs their pride.
He prided himself on being a great financer, and yet all of his commercial speculations have been conspicuous failures.