I’ve seen many works in which the phrase “small but obvious” is used. I understand and acknowledge the fact that it is, essentially, perfectly fine to simply use these precise words; however, I was wondering if there was a single word which accurately sums up the meaning of the phrase. I could swear that I’ve heard a term like it before, but I cannot for the life of me remember what it was.
I’ve already done a quick search on Google, but the entire first page of engine results were—primarily—synonyms and definitions of both “obvious” and “non-obvious”, through six links to online thesauri and dictionaries, respectively.
The other four referred me to online books, via Google Books; Systema Porifera: A Guide to the Classification of Sponges, Mammals of South America, Volume 2: Rodents, Vascular Flora of the Southeastern United States: Asteraceae, and The Proterozoic Biosphere: A Multidisciplinary Study.
. . . I’ve decided that I’ll most likely be best off in the long run if I simply avoid the content suggestions on the next pages.
Anyway! Just in case a provided example would make answering this easier, then this is the context in which I’m going to use it:
His breathing quickened, a [small yet obvious] change that hadn’t gone unnoticed by his friend.
Any feedback is appreciated, and comments are always welcome! Thanks for the help, everyone!