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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

Derived 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.

But it is possible he saw plain clothes officers filing into his home on the King's private Sandringham Estate to begin searching through his possessions.

From BBC • Feb. 20, 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

A Fullerton police officer intervened when he saw a man in plain clothes pointing a gun at a female driver on a busy street in Santa Ana.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 10, 2025

The police on the bridge gathered like a shoal of fish and began shedding their plain clothes costumes.

From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat

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