Plain — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

adjective noun adverb verb /ˈplān/

Meaning & Definition of Plain

Plain (adjective)

  1. lacking ornament, undecorated
  2. free of extraneous matter, pure
  3. free of impediments to view, unobstructed

Plain (noun)

  1. an extensive area of level or rolling treeless country
  2. a broad unbroken expanse
  3. something free from artifice, ornament, or extraneous matter

Plain (adverb)

  1. in a plain manner, without obscurity or ambiguity
  2. absolutely

Plain (verb)

  1. complain

Plain (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. free from all additions or embellishment

    "I like my hamburgers plain, with no ketchup or relish"

    "just give us the plain facts and none of your snide comments"

    similar: bald, bare, naked, plain-vanilla, simple, unadorned, undecorated, unembellished, unornamented, unvarnished
    related: denuded, divested, stripped, au naturel, earthy, elemental, homely, natural, unsophisticated, forthright, honest, modest, unpretentious, clean, antiseptic, austere, bleak, severe, spartan, stark, minimalist, inconspicuous, muted, restrained, sober, subdued, toned (down), unobtrusive, conservative, quiet, understated
    opposite: adorned, decorated, embellished, fancy, ornamented
    near: flamboyant, flashy, garish, gaudy, glittery, glitzy, loud, ostentatious, showy, splashy, swank, tawdry, bedizened, florid, lurid, exaggerated, overdecorated, overdone, overwrought, baroque, elaborate, extravagant, ornate, rococo, appareled, arrayed, bedecked, decked-out, dressed, embroidered, garnished, trimmed

  2. free from added matter

    "I'd prefer my pasta plain, not flavored with tomato or spinach or anything else"

    similar: absolute, fine, neat, pure, purified, refined, straight, unadulterated, unalloyed, undiluted, unmixed
    related: clarified, filtered, clean, fresh, taintless, uncontaminated, uncorrupted, undefiled, unpolluted, untainted, rendered, tried, concentrated, full-bodied, strong, uncombined
    opposite: adulterated, alloyed, diluted, impure, mixed
    near: befouled, besmirched, contaminated, corrupted, debased, defiled, fouled, polluted, soiled, spoiled, sullied, tainted, unclarified, amalgamated, blended, coalesced, combined, commingled, compounded, incorporated, intermingled, intermixed, merged, mingled, conjoined, fused, joined, linked, united, cheapened, doctored, watered-down

  3. free in expressing one's true feelings and opinions

    "their piano teacher is honest and plain, if not always tactful"

    similar: candid, direct, forthcoming, forthright, foursquare, frank, free-spoken, freehearted, honest, open, openhearted, out-front, outspoken, plainspoken, straight, straightforward, unguarded, unreserved, up-front
    related: artless, earnest, guileless, ingenuous, innocent, naive, natural, real, sincere, unaffected, undesigning, unpretending, unpretentious, outgoing, uninhibited, unrestrained, vocal, vociferous, abrupt, bluff, blunt, brusque, crusty, curt, gruff, sharp, impertinent, impolite, inconsiderate, rude, tactless, thoughtless, uncivil, undiplomatic, ungracious, unmannerly, unsubtle
    opposite: dissembling, uncandid, unforthcoming
    near: inhibited, reserved, restrained, close-mouthed, laconic, quiet, reticent, taciturn, tight-lipped, uncommunicative, ambiguous, circuitous, equivocal, evasive, diplomatic, politic, tactful, civil, considerate, courteous, polite

  4. going straight to the point clearly and firmly

    "a plain report on the current situation"

    similar: direct, forthright, foursquare, straight, straightforward
    related: aboveboard, candid, frank, free-spoken, honest, open, openhearted, outspoken, plainspoken, unguarded, unreserved, artless, earnest, sincere, uninhibited, unrestrained, abrupt, bluff, blunt, brusque, curt, gruff, point-blank, sharp, impolite, inconsiderate, rude, tactless, undiplomatic, true, truthful, veracious
    opposite: circuitous, indirect, roundabout
    near: circumlocutory, long-winded, prolix, verbose, wordy, inhibited, reserved, restrained, civil, courteous, polite, tactful, deceitful, lying, mendacious, untruthful, erroneous, fallacious, false, ambiguous, equivocal, evasive, misleading, double-dealing, hypocritical, two-faced

  5. not subject to misinterpretation or more than one interpretation

    "let me make my meaning plain"

    similar: apparent, bald, bald-faced, barefaced, bright-line, broad, clear, clear-cut, crystal clear, decided, distinct, evident, lucid, luculent, luminous, manifest, nonambiguous, obvious, open-and-shut, palpable, patent, pellucid, perspicuous, ringing, straightforward, transparent, unambiguous, unambivalent, unequivocal, unmistakable
    related: cognizable, cognoscible, comprehendible, comprehensible, digestible, fathomable, graspable, intelligible, knowable, understandable, self-evident, self-explanatory, clean-cut, simple, tidy, uncomplicated, overt, undisguised, appreciable, perceptible, recognizable, sensible, tangible, discernible, noticeable, observable, visible, black-and-white, explicit, trenchant, well-defined, clean, decipherable, fair, legible, readable
    opposite: ambiguous, clouded, cryptic, dark, enigmatic, equivocal, indistinct, mysterious, nonobvious, obfuscated, obscure, unapparent, unclarified, unclear
    near: incomprehensible, indecipherable, unfathomable, unintelligible, unknowable, impalpable, imperceptible, inappreciable, indiscernible, insensible, cloudy, gauzy, gray, hazy, imprecise, indefinite, indeterminate, misty, murky, nebulous, noncommittal, sketchy, slippery, subtle, vague, illegible, undecipherable, unreadable

Plain (adverb) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. in an honest and direct manner

    "told her plain that he loved her"

    similar: directly, forthrightly, foursquare, plainly, straight, straightforward, straightforwardly
    related: baldly, bluffly, candidly, frankly, honestly, openheartedly, openly, unguardedly, unreservedly, artlessly, earnestly, simply, sincerely, abruptly, bluntly, brusquely, curtly, gruffly, point-blank, sharply, impolitely, inconsiderately, rudely, tactlessly, truthfully, veraciously
    near: long-windedly, verbosely, wordily, civilly, courteously, diplomatically, politely, tactfully, deceitfully, mendaciously, untruthfully, erroneously, fallaciously, falsely, hypocritically, insincerely, ambiguously, circuitously, equivocally, evasively, indirectly

Plain (noun) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. a broad area of level or rolling treeless country

    "the first settlers in that area lived on the vast plains in lonely log cabins"

    similar: campo, champaign, down(s), grassland, heath, lea, llano, moor, pampa, prairie, savanna, steppe, tundra, veld
    related: field, meadow, floodplain, bottom, bottomland, flat, lowland, plateau, table, tableland, upland

  2. a wide space or area

    "the vast plains of snow-covered earth that seemed to stretch endlessly"

    similar: breadth, distance, expanse, expansion, extent, field, length, reach, sheet, spread, stretch, waste
    related: domain, sphere, territory, compass, range, scope, sweep, gamut, scale, spectrum, depth, emptiness, void, extension, latitude, span, amplitude, immensity, magnitude

Related Entry: Plain-vanilla (adjective)

Plain-vanilla is a different word from Plain. The synonyms below are for plain-vanilla, not for plain.

  1. free from all additions or embellishment

    "we decided to buy the plain-vanilla model because we don't have a lot of money to spend on extras"

    similar: bald, bare, naked, plain, simple, unadorned, undecorated, unembellished, unornamented, unvarnished
    related: denuded, divested, stripped, au naturel, earthy, elemental, homely, natural, unsophisticated, forthright, honest, modest, unpretentious, clean, antiseptic, austere, bleak, severe, spartan, stark, minimalist, inconspicuous, muted, restrained, sober, subdued, toned (down), unobtrusive, conservative, quiet, understated
    opposite: adorned, decorated, embellished, fancy, ornamented
    near: flamboyant, flashy, garish, gaudy, glittery, glitzy, loud, ostentatious, showy, splashy, swank, tawdry, bedizened, florid, lurid, exaggerated, overdecorated, overdone, overwrought, baroque, elaborate, extravagant, ornate, rococo, appareled, arrayed, bedecked, decked-out, dressed, embroidered, garnished, trimmed

Related Entry: Plain Jane (noun)

Plain Jane is a different word from Plain. The synonyms below are for plain Jane, not for plain.

  1. as in everywoman

    similar: everywoman, commoner, pleb, plebeian, prole, proletarian, laborer, peon, worker, everyman, Joe Blow, Joe Six-Pack, John Doe, little guy, little man, lug, slob
    opposite: big cheese, big shot, big wheel, bigwig, fat cat, mover and shaker, VIP

Related Entry: Plain Janes (noun)

Plain Janes is a different word from Plain. The synonyms below are for plain Janes, not for plain.

  1. as in everywomen

    similar: everywomen, commoners, plebeians, plebs, proles, proletarians, laborers, peons, workers, everymen, Joe Blows, Joe Six-Packs, John Does, little guys, little men, lugs, slobs
    opposite: big cheeses, big shots, big wheels, bigwigs, fat cats, movers and shakers, VIPs

Related Entry: Plain-Jane (adjective)

Plain-Jane is a different word from Plain. The synonyms below are for plain-Jane, not for plain.

  1. as in popular, familiar

    similar: familiar, homely, plain, popular, vulgar, regular, typical, unextraordinary, natural, average, common, commonplace, cut-and-dried, everyday, garden-variety, normal, ordinary, prosaic, routine, run-of-the-mill, standard, standard-issue, unexceptional, unremarkable, usual, workaday, customary, wonted, insignificant, trivial, unimportant, frequent, habitual, expected, predictable
    opposite: abnormal, exceptional, extraordinary, odd, out-of-the-way, strange, unusual, curious, funny, peculiar, quaint, queer, aberrant, anomalous, atypical, irregular, untypical, rare, recherché, scarce, fantastic, phenomenal, bizarre, far-out, Kafkaesque, outrageous, outré, wacky, way-out, weird, wild, eccentric, idiosyncratic, kooky, nonconformist, oddball, offbeat, unconventional, unorthodox, freak, freakish, conspicuous, notable, novel, outstanding, prominent, salient, signal, striking, unexampled, unprecedented, singular, unique, unparalleled

Synonyms, Thesaurus & Another Word for Plain

The most common words with a similar meaning to Plain:

bald, bare, naked, plain-vanilla, simple, unadorned, undecorated, unembellished, unornamented, unvarnished, absolute, fine, neat, pure, purified, refined, straight, unadulterated, unalloyed, undiluted, unmixed, candid, direct, forthcoming, forthright, foursquare, frank, free-spoken, freehearted, honest, open, openhearted, out-front, outspoken, plainspoken, straightforward, unguarded, unreserved, up-front, apparent

Antonyms & Opposite Words for Plain

Words with the opposite meaning of Plain:

adorned, decorated, embellished, fancy, ornamented, adulterated, alloyed, diluted, impure, mixed, dissembling, uncandid, unforthcoming, circuitous, indirect, roundabout, ambiguous, clouded, cryptic, dark, enigmatic, equivocal, indistinct, mysterious, nonobvious, obfuscated, obscure, unapparent, unclarified, unclear

Related Words for Plain

denuded, divested, stripped, au naturel, earthy, elemental, homely, natural, unsophisticated, modest, unpretentious, clean, antiseptic, austere, bleak, severe, spartan, stark, minimalist, inconspicuous, muted, restrained, sober, subdued, toned (down), unobtrusive, conservative, quiet, understated, clarified

Near Antonyms of Plain

flamboyant, flashy, garish, gaudy, glittery, glitzy, loud, ostentatious, showy, splashy, swank, tawdry, bedizened, florid, lurid, exaggerated, overdecorated, overdone, overwrought, baroque, elaborate, extravagant, ornate, rococo, appareled, arrayed, bedecked, decked-out, dressed, embroidered

Word Forms of Plain

Inflections: plained, plaining, plains

Derived words: plainly (adverb), plainness (noun)

Origin & Etymology of Plain

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin planum, from neuter of planus flat, plain floor

First known use: 14th century

Vocabulary Lists & Topics for Plain

Words & Phrases Containing Plain

plain clothes, plain-Jane, plain Jane, plain-laid, Plain People

Frequently Asked Questions about Plain

What does "Plain" mean?

"Plain" means lacking ornament, undecorated. As an an adjective, a noun, an adverb and a verb, it is defined as: lacking ornament, undecorated. It has 8 distinct senses.

What is another word for "Plain"?

Other words for "Plain" include bald, bare, naked, plain-vanilla, simple, unadorned, undecorated and unembellished. The best synonym depends on which meaning of "Plain" you intend.

What are different ways to say "Plain"?

There are 269 words and phrases with a similar meaning to "Plain". Common alternatives include bald, bare, naked, plain-vanilla, simple, unadorned, undecorated, unembellished, unornamented and unvarnished.

What is the opposite of "Plain"?

Antonyms of "Plain" include adorned, decorated, embellished, fancy, ornamented, adulterated, alloyed and diluted. Near antonyms include flamboyant, flashy, garish and gaudy.

How do you use "Plain" in a sentence?

Examples of "Plain" in a sentence: "I like my hamburgers plain, with no ketchup or relish"; "just give us the plain facts and none of your snide comments"; "I'd prefer my pasta plain, not flavored with tomato or spinach or anything else".

Is "Plain" a noun, verb, or adjective?

"Plain" can be used as an adjective, a noun, an adverb and a verb, depending on the context.

Is "Plain" useful for IELTS, TOEFL, and other English exams?

As a B2-level word, "Plain" is typical of Cambridge B2 First (FCE), IELTS band 5.5–6.5, TOEFL iBT 72–94, PTE Academic 59–75, TOEIC Listening & Reading 785+.

How do you pronounce "Plain"?

"Plain" is pronounced /ˈplān/.