plain as day

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.

Example Sentences

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

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But it’s plain as day that this administration has not earned that deference.

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

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Second, it is plain as day that the Supreme Court simply did not trust the Trump administration’s claims that it would not deport migrants over the weekend without due process.

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The opposition to “DEI” that occupies the White House is a smokescreen for a step in exactly the opposite direction, plain as day: make sure the rich get richer, and that no pesky standards of fairness or rules get in the way.

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Related Words

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