Synonyms

plain as day

Idioms

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.

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.

This should be plain as day to anyone who cares to look and listen.

From Slate • Jan. 20, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 16, 2024

“They made it plain as day why they were there,” Mulroe said.

From Washington Post • Apr. 24, 2023

A nest box has been installed on the girder, and the Peregrine is sitting in it, plain as day.

From Scientific American • Sep. 15, 2021

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

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

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