plain as day

Idioms  

1. Also, plain as the nose on your face. Very obvious, quite clear, as in It's plain as day that they must sell their house before they can buy another, or It's plain as the nose on your face that she's lying. These similes have largely replaced the earlier plain as a packstaff or pikestaff, from the mid-1500s, alluding to the stick on which a peddler carried his wares over his shoulder. The first term, from the late 1800s, is probably a shortening of plain as the sun at midday; the variant dates from the late 1600s.

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Example Sentences

Penelope understood not a word, but the fellow’s tone was plain as day.

From Literature

But here it is, plain as day and I’m angry about it.

From Salon

Baker pushes the comedy, but, just as with Ani, the injustice of it all is plain as day.

From Los Angeles Times

There, plain as day, was the hilt of the knight’s sword, sitting securely in the scabbard strapped to Jack’s shoulder.

From Literature

And the messages, once they were deciphered, were as plain as day.

From Scientific American

Related Words

• conspicuous
• indisputable
• noticeable
• obvious
• palpable
• unmistakable
• visible