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

Further evidence that migrant mercenaries operate within the Evros region is provided by a photo we have been shown of a group of masked men in plain clothes inside a van.

From BBC ● Apr. 14, 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

Cops in plain clothes are easy to spot, because they still walk like cops and talk like cops, no matter how much they try not to.

From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz

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