Though hes not there hes proverbially conspicuous! (8)
I believe the answer is:
absentee
'there hes proverbially conspicuous' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'though hes not' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'not' could be 'nt' (synonyms) and 'nt' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for absentee that I've seen before include "Bunker" , "Someone not present" , "Deserter - truant b" , "One who stays away" , "Missing person" .)