plain clothes

American

Or plainclothes

plural noun

clothing other than one's uniform, especially civilian clothes worn on duty by a police officer.

plain clothes British

plural noun

1. ordinary clothes, as distinguished from uniform, as worn by a police detective on duty
2. ( as modifier )
  
  a plain-clothes policeman

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of plain clothes

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

plain clothes

Yet even as industrial police and officers in plain clothes arrived at the site, they were unable to extract him from the mob, he added.

From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2026

They shouldn’t wear plain clothes but uniforms that identify their agency.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026

An M23 official confirmed to AFP Thursday that "police and soldiers in plain clothes" were still in Uvira as well as "our intelligence services".

From Barron's ● Dec. 18, 2025

In some cases, the men wore plain clothes and refused to identify themselves.

From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2025

He could tell they were American soldiers by their plain clothes.

From I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023