plain, bare, spare, unembellished, unornamented
(adjective) lacking embellishment or ornamentation; âa plain hair styleâ; âunembellished white wallsâ; âfunctional architecture featuring stark unornamented concreteâ
homely, plain
(adjective) lacking in physical beauty or proportion; âa homely childâ; âseveral of the buildings were downright homelyâ; âa plain girl with a freckled faceâ
plain, unvarnished
(adjective) free from any effort to soften to disguise; âthe plain and unvarnished truthâ; âthe unvarnished candor of old people and childrenâ
apparent, evident, manifest, palpable, patent, plain, unmistakable
(adjective) clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment; âthe effects of the drought are apparent to anyone who sees the parched fieldsâ; âevident hostilityâ; âmanifest disapprovalâ; âpatent advantagesâ; âmade his meaning plainâ; âit is plain that he is no reactionaryâ; âin plain viewâ; âa palpable lieâ
plain, unpatterned
(adjective) lacking patterns especially in color
plain
(adjective) not elaborate or elaborated; simple; âplain foodâ; âstuck to the plain factsâ; âa plain blue suitâ; âa plain rectangular brick buildingâ
plain, sheer, unmingled, unmixed
(adjective) not mixed with extraneous elements; âplain waterâ; âsheer wineâ; ânot an unmixed blessingâ
obviously, evidently, manifestly, patently, apparently, plainly, plain
(adverb) unmistakably (âplainâ is often used informally for âplainlyâ); âthe answer is obviously wrongâ; âshe was in bed and evidently in great painâ; âhe was manifestly too important to leave off the guest listâ; âit is all patently nonsenseâ; âshe has apparently been living here for some timeâ; âI thought he owned the property, but apparently notâ; âYou are plainly wrongâ; âhe is plain stubbornâ
knit, knit stitch, plain, plain stitch
(noun) a basic knitting stitch made by putting the needle through the front of the stitch from the lefthand side
plain, field, champaign
(noun) extensive tract of level open land; âthey emerged from the woods onto a vast open plainâ; âhe longed for the fields of his youthâ
complain, kick, plain, sound off, quetch, kvetch
(verb) express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness; âMy mother complains all dayâ; âShe has a lot to kick aboutâ
Source: WordNet® 3.1
plain (comparative plainer, superlative plainest)
(now rare, regional) Flat, level. [from 14th c.]
Simple.
Ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation; unembellished. [from 14th c.]
Of just one colour; lacking a pattern.
Simple in habits or qualities; unsophisticated, not exceptional, ordinary. [from 16th c.]
(of food) Having only few ingredients, or no additional ingredients or seasonings; not elaborate, without toppings or extras. [from 17th c.]
(computing) Containing no extended or nonprinting characters (especially in plain text). [from 20th c.]
Obvious.
Evident to one's senses or reason; manifest, clear, unmistakable. [from 14th c.]
Downright; total, unmistakable (as intensifier). [from 14th c.]
Open.
Honest and without deception; candid, open; blunt. [from 14th c.]
Clear; unencumbered; equal; fair.
Not unusually beautiful; unattractive. [from 17th c.]
(card games) Not a trump.
• (lacking adornment or ornamentation): no-frills, simple, unadorned, unseasoned; see also bare-bones
• (of just one colour): monochrome
• (not exceptional): normal, ordinary
• (obvious): blatant, ostensible; see also obvious or explicit
• (intensifier): consarn, darned, stinking; see also damned
• (honest and without deception): frank, sincere; see also honest
• bells and whistles
• decorative
• exotic
• fancy
• ornate
plain (not comparable)
(colloquial) Simply.
(archaic) Plainly; distinctly.
plain (plural plains)
(rare, poetic) A lamentation.
plain (third-person singular simple present plains, present participle plaining, simple past and past participle plained)
(reflexive, obsolete) To complain. [13th-19th c.]
(ambitransitive, now, rare, poetic) To lament, bewail. [from 14th c.]
plain (plural plains)
An expanse of land with relatively low relief, usually exclusive of forests, deserts, and wastelands.
Synonyms: flatland, grassland
Hypernyms: land, terrain
Hyponyms: prairie, steppe
(archaic) synonym of field in reference to a battlefield.
(obsolete) Alternative spelling of plane: a flat geometric field.
• As with grassland(s), flatland(s), plains can function as the plural of plain (There are ten principal low plains on Mars) or as its synonym (She lives in the plains), with a vague sense of greater expansiveness.
plain (third-person singular simple present plains, present participle plaining, simple past and past participle plained)
(obsolete, transitive) To level; to raze; to make plain or even on the surface.
(obsolete, transitive) To make plain or manifest; to explain.
• Aplin, Lipan, Palin, Pinal, in lap, lapin, plani-
Plain (plural Plains)
A surname.
• According to the 2010 United States Census, Plain is the 22246th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 1159 individuals. Plain is most common among White (69.37%) and Black/African American (23.04%) individuals.
• Aplin, Lipan, Palin, Pinal, in lap, lapin, plani-
Source: Wiktionary
Plain, v. i. Etym: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]
Definition: To lament; to bewail; to complain. [Archaic & Poetic] Milton. We with piteous heart unto you pleyne. Chaucer.
Plain, v. t.
Definition: To lament; to mourn over; as, to plain a loss. [Archaic & Poetic] Sir J. Harrington.
Plain, a. [Compar. Plainer; superl. Plainest.] Etym: [F., level, flat, fr. L. planus, perhaps akin to E. floor. Cf. Llano, Piano, Plan, Plane level, a level surface.]
1. Without elevations or depressions; flat; level; smooth; even. See Plane. The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. Isa. xl. 4.
2. Open; clear; unencumbered; equal; fair. Our troops beat an army in plain fight. Felton.
3. Not intricate or difficult; evident; manifest; obvious; clear; unmistakable. "'T is a plain case." Shak.
4. (a) Void of extraneous beauty or ornament; without conspicious embellishment; not rich; simple. (b) Not highly cultivated; unsophisticated; free from show or pretension; simple; natural; homely; common. "Plain yet pious Christians." Hammond. "The plain people." A. Lincoln. (c) Free from affectation or disguise; candid; sincere; artless; honest; frank. "An honest mind, and plain." Shak. (d) Not luxurious; not highly seasoned; simple; as, plain food. (e) Without beauty; not handsome; homely; as, a plain woman. (f) Not variegated, dyed, or figured; as, plain muslin. (g) Not much varied by modulations; as, a plain tune. Plain battle, open battle; pitched battle. [Obs.] Chaucer.
– Plain chant (Mus.) Same as Plain song, below.
– Plain chart (Naut.), a chart laid down on Mercator's projection.
– Plain dealer. (a) One who practices plain dealing. (b) A simpleton. [Obs.] Shak.
– Plain dealing. See under Dealing.
– Plain molding (Join.), molding of which the surfaces are plain figures.
– Plain sewing, sewing of seams by simple and common stitches, in distinct from fancy work, embroidery, etc.; -- distinguished also from designing and fitting garments.
– Plain song. (a) The Gregorian chant, or canto fermo; the prescribed melody of the Roman Catholic service, sung in unison, in tones of equal length, and rarely extending beyond the compass of an octave. (b) A simple melody.
– Plain speaking, plainness or bluntness of speech.
Syn.
– Level; flat; smooth; open; artless; unaffected; undisguised; frank; sincere; honest; candid; ingenuous; unembellished; downright; blunt; clear; simple; distinct; manifest; obvious; apparent. See Manifest.
Plain, adv.
Definition: In a plain manner; plainly. "To speak short and pleyn." Chaucer. "To tell you plain." Shak.
Plain, n. Etym: [Cf. OF. plaigne, F. plaine. See Plain, a.]
1. Level land; usually, an open field or a broad stretch of land with an even surface, or a surface little varied by inequalities; as, the plain of Jordan; the American plains, or prairies. Descending fro the mountain into playn. Chaucer. Him the Ammonite Worshiped in Rabba and her watery plain. Milton.
2. A field of battle. [Obs.] Arbuthnot. Lead forth my soldiers to the plain. Shak.
Plain, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plained (; p. pr. & vb. n. Plaining.] Etym: [Cf. Plane, v.]
1. To plane or level; to make plain or even on the surface. [R.] We would rake Europe rather, plain the East. Wither.
2. To make plain or manifest; to explain. What's dumb in show, I'll plain in speech. Shak.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
23 January 2025
(adjective) being or located on or directed toward the side of the body to the west when facing north; âmy left handâ; âleft center fieldâ; âthe left bank of a river is bank on your left side when you are facing downstreamâ
The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.
