- a variation of plain clothes.
plainclothes
Americanadjective
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.
Sunday after plainclothes federal agents saw a suspicious man taking photographs and appearing to monitor security-planning activities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
AFP journalists saw long lines of police wagons, horse patrols, barbed wire around government buildings, and large numbers of plainclothes officers.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
A large cordon is in place and a forensics officer, fire investigation dogs and several plainclothes officers were working at the scene.
From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2026
A criminal defense attorney said agents in plainclothes pulled his client out of a federal courtroom Thursday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
The docks at Cape Town were swarming with armed police and nervous plainclothes officials.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
