Plain People

American  

plural noun

1. members of the Amish, the Mennonites, or the Dunkers: so named because they stress simple living.

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Etymology

Origin of Plain People

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75

Example Sentences

There are “regulars”: The Brother, a monstrous chancer; Keats and Chapman, literary dandies with a weakness for puns; and the Plain People of Ireland, a sort of unreliable chorus.

From The Guardian • Jan. 7, 2017

Myles made the "Plain People of Ireland" a regular chorus in his column, and often treated this entity harshly.

From Time Magazine Archive

For geneticists the fascinating fact about the Old Order Amish, one of the sects of the Pennsylvania Dutch country's "Plain People," is that they all are descended from about 200 immigrants of 200 years ago.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Amish of Wayne, Holmes and Tuscarawas Counties, Ohio, are among the ' plainest of the picture-book Plain People.

From Time Magazine Archive

One must keep one's faith in the People—the Plain People, the Burgesses, the Grocers—else of all men the artists are most miserable and their teachings vain.

From An Englishman Looks at the World by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)