plain1
[pleyn]
- clear or distinct to the eye or ear: a plain trail to the river; to stand in plain view.
- clear to the mind; evident, manifest, or obvious: to make one's meaning plain.
- conveying the meaning clearly and simply; easily understood: plain talk.
- downright; sheer; utter; self-evident: plain folly; plain stupidity.
- free from ambiguity or evasion; candid; outspoken: the plain truth of the matter.
- without special pretensions, superiority, elegance, etc.; ordinary: plain people.
- not beautiful; physically unattractive or undistinguished: a plain face.
- without intricacies or difficulties.
- ordinary, simple, or unostentatious: Although she was a duchess, her manners were attractively plain.
- with little or no embellishment, decoration, or enhancing elaboration: a plain blue suit.
- without a pattern, figure, or device: a plain fabric.
- not rich, highly seasoned, or elaborately prepared, as food: a plain diet.
- flat or level: plain country.
- unobstructed, clear, or open, as ground, a space, etc.
- Cards. being other than a face card or a trump.
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- clearly and simply: He's just plain stupid.
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- an area of land not significantly higher than adjacent areas and with relatively minor differences in elevation, commonly less than 500 feet (150 meters), within the area.
- The Plains. Great Plains.
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Origin of plain1
1250–1300; Middle English (adj., adv., and noun) < Old French (adj. and noun) < Latin plānus flat, level, plānum flat country
Synonym study
10. See homely.
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com1, 2. lucid, understandable, intelligible, unmistakable, apparent, perspicuous. 2, 3. unambiguous, unequivocal, patent, transparent; direct. 5. unreserved, straightforward, blunt, frank, ingenuous, open, sincere. 6. unpretentious. 10. unadorned.
Antonyms
plain2
[pleyn]
- to complain.
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Origin of plain2
1250–1300; Middle English plei(g)nen < Old French plaign-, stem of plaindre < Latin plangere to beat (the breast, etc.), lament; akin to Greek plḗssein to strike
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
meadow, expanse, field, prairie, steppe, grassland, plateau, flat, level, tundra, moor, champaign, moorland, heath, flatlandExamples from the Web for plains
Contemporary Examples
Based on the hat he had created for himself, Stetson made a version called “The Boss of the Plains.”
In the Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, Plains, and Far West, secession sympathizers top out at 22 percent of the population.
This is a big problem in states like Alaska, Montana, the Dakotas, and the plains states.
Take the case of the American bison: The ice-age bison evolved into the Plains buffalo, Bison bison, perhaps 10,000 years ago.
Michael Waters explains, without serious evidence, that elk was “a rare animal in the plains at that time.”
Historical Examples
From the camp only plains were in sight, not a tree visible.
Explorations in AustraliaJohn Forrest
It has populated the mountains and the plains of our own country.
Ancient ManHendrik Willem van Loon
To the east, plains for at least thirty miles, when broken ranges were visible.
Explorations in AustraliaJohn Forrest
We can turn rivers in their courses, level mountains to the plains.
This village was indicated, and the mountains, and plains beyond.
The Leopard WomanStewart Edward White
plains
- mainly US extensive tracts of level or almost level treeless countryside; prairies
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plain1
- flat or smooth; level
- not complicated; clearthe plain truth
- not difficult; simple or easya plain task
- honest or straightforward
- lowly, esp in social rank or education
- without adornment or showa plain coat
- (of fabric) without pattern or of simple untwilled weave
- not attractive
- not mixed; simpleplain vodka
- knitting of or done in plain
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- a level or almost level tract of country, esp an extensive treeless region
- a simple stitch in knitting made by putting the right needle into a loop on the left needle, passing the wool round the right needle, and pulling it through the loop, thus forming a new loop
- (in billiards)
- the unmarked white ball, as distinguished from the spot balls
- the player using this ball
- (in Ireland) short for plain porter, a light portertwo pints of plain, please
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- (intensifier)just plain tired
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See also plains
Word Origin
C13: from Old French: simple, from Latin plānus level, distinct, clear
plain2
- a dialect or poetic word for complain
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Word Origin
C14 pleignen, from Old French plaindre to lament, from Latin plangere to beat
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
Word Origin and History for plains
n.
of the American Midwest, 1755 (in singular form from 1680s), see plain (n.). Plains Indian attested from 1844.
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plain
adj.
c.1300, "flat, smooth," from Old French plain "flat, smooth, even" (12c.), from Latin planus "flat, even, level" (see plane (n.1)). Sense of "evident" is from, c.1300; that of "free from obstruction" is early 14c.; meaning "simple, sincere, ordinary" is recorded from late 14c., especially of dress, "unembellished, without decoration."
In reference to the dress and speech of Quakers, it is recorded from 1824; of Amish and Mennonites, from 1894 (in the Dutch regions of Pennsylvania Plain with the capital is shorthand adjective for "Amish and Old Order Mennonite"). Of appearance, as a euphemism for "ill-favored, ugly" it dates from 1749. Of envelopes from 1913. As an adverb from early 14c. Plain English is from c.1500. Plain dealer "one who deals plainly or speaks candidly" is from 1570s, marked "Now rare" in OED 2nd edition. To be as plain as the nose on (one's) face is from 1690s.
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plain
n.
"level country," c.1300 (in reference to Salisbury Plain), from Old French plain "open countryside," from Latin planum "level ground, plain," noun use of neuter of planus (adj.) "flat, even, level" (see plane (n.1)). Latin planum was used for "level ground" but much more common was campus.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
plain
[plān]
- An extensive, relatively level area of land. Plains are present on all continents except Antarctica and are most often located in the interior regions. Because they can occur at almost any altitude or latitude, plains can be humid and forested, semiarid and grass-covered, or arid.
- A broad, level expanse, such as an area of the sea floor or a lunar mare.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Idioms and Phrases with plains
plain
In addition to the idioms beginning with plain
- plain as day
- plain sailing
also see:
- in plain English
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.