Plain People

American  

plural noun

1. members of the Amish, the Mennonites, or the Dunkers: so named because they stress simple living.

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Etymology

Origin of Plain People

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75

Example Sentences

There are “regulars”: The Brother, a monstrous chancer; Keats and Chapman, literary dandies with a weakness for puns; and the Plain People of Ireland, a sort of unreliable chorus.

From The Guardian • Jan. 7, 2017

For geneticists the fascinating fact about the Old Order Amish, one of the sects of the Pennsylvania Dutch country's "Plain People," is that they all are descended from about 200 immigrants of 200 years ago.

From Time Magazine Archive

The North Portico was finished by President Jackson, whose inaugural party for the Plain People nearly wrecked the interior.

From Time Magazine Archive

Long had he fought the manager-movement, contending that under such a system the Plain People who elected him would not get their due.

From Time Magazine Archive

One must keep one's faith in the People—the Plain People, the Burgesses, the Grocers—else of all men the artists are most miserable and their teachings vain.

From An Englishman Looks at the World by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)