Simple — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

Simple (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

1. free from all additions or embellishment

   "a simple design, and one that never goes out of fashion"

   similar: bald, bare, naked, plain, plain-vanilla, 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 any intent to deceive or impress others

   "growing up in simple innocence"

   similar: artless, genuine, guileless, honest, ingenuous, innocent, naive, natural, real, sincere, true, unaffected, unpretending, unpretentious, on the level
   related: childlike, dewy-eyed, gee-whiz, impressionable, inexperienced, malleable, persuadable, persuasible, simpleminded, unsophisticated, unworldly, wide-eyed, spontaneous, unforced, unstudied, candid, direct, frank, free, free-spoken, open, openhearted, plain, plainspoken, single-minded, straight, straightforward, unguarded, trustful, trusting, exploitable, gullible, susceptible, unwary
   opposite: affected, artful, artificial, assuming, dishonest, dissembling, dissimulating, fake, false, guileful, insincere, phony, pretentious
   near: critical, cynical, mistrustful, skeptical, suspicious, wary, cosmopolitan, sophisticated, worldly, worldly-wise, civilized, cultivated, cultured, polished, refined, crooked, deceitful, deceptive, devious, double-dealing, hypocritical, manipulative, two-faced, arch, calculating, canny, crafty, cunning, designing, foxy, knavish, scheming, sharp, shifty, shrewd, slick, slippery, sly, subtle, tricky, underhanded, wily, flattering, mealymouthed, smooth, sycophantic, unctuous, feigned, forced, strained

3. having no exceptions or restrictions

   "that's the simple truth"

   similar: absolute, all-out, arrant, blank, blooming (chiefly British), bodacious (Southern & Midland), categorical, clean, complete, consummate, crashing, damn, damned, dead, deadly, definite, downright, dreadful, fair, flat, flat-out, out-and-out, outright, perfect, plumb, profound, pure, rank, regular, sheer, stark, stone, straight-out, thorough, thoroughgoing, total, unadulterated, unalloyed, unconditional, unmitigated, unqualified, utter, very
   related: authentic, classic, genuine, real, veritable, constant, endless, eternal, perpetual, undying, unremitting, extreme, unrestricted, confirmed, habitual, hopeless, inveterate, extraordinary, frightful, horrible, huge, main, superlative, supreme, surpassing, terrible, terrific
   near: doubtful, dubious, equivocal, qualified, questionable, restricted, uncertain

4. involving minimal difficulty or effort

   "I got all of the answers right because it was such a simple test"

   similar: cheap, downhill, easy, effortless, facile, fluent, fluid, hands-down, light, painless, ready, royal, smooth, snap, soft
   related: idiotproof, mindless, quick, straightforward, unchallenging, uncomplicated, apparent, clear, clear-cut, distinct, evident, manifest, obvious, open-and-shut, palpable, patent, perspicuous, plain, transparent, unambiguous, unequivocal, unmistakable
   opposite: arduous, demanding, difficult, exacting, formidable, grueling, hard, herculean, killer, labored, laborious, murderous, rough, severe, stiff, strenuous, toilful, toilsome, tough
   near: burdensome, exhausting, onerous, oppressive, painful, stressful, taxing, troublesome, abstruse, complex, complicated, intricate, involved, knotty, problematic, recondite

5. lacking in worldly wisdom or informed judgment

   "developers mistakenly thought that the local residents were simple people who would sell their land for practically nothing"

   similar: aw-shucks, dewy, dewy-eyed, green, ingenuous, innocent, naïf, naive, primitive, simpleminded, uncritical, unknowing, unsophisticated, unsuspecting, unsuspicious, unwary, unworldly, wide-eyed
   related: callow, childish, immature, inexperienced, raw, childlike, idealistic, impractical, unrealistic, believing, credulous, gullible, susceptible, trustful, trusting, unguarded, beguiled, duped, gulled, tricked, careless, heedless, thoughtless
   opposite: cosmopolitan, experienced, knowing, sophisticated, worldly, worldly-wise
   near: critical, cynical, doubting, incredulous, skeptical, suspecting, suspicious, unconvinced, careful, cautious, guarded, leery, wary, watchful, down-to-earth, hardheaded, pragmatic, realistic, sober, street-smart, streetwise

6. lacking in education or the knowledge gained from books

   "the fact that he didn't go to college doesn't mean he's simple"

   similar: analphabetic, benighted, dark, ignorant, illiterate, nonliterate, rude, uneducated, uninstructed, unlearned, unlettered, unread, unschooled, untaught, untutored
   related: functionally illiterate, innumerate, semiliterate, unknowledgeable, artless, lowbrow, philistine, uncultivated, uncultured, callow, green, inexperienced, innocent, naive, unsophisticated, raw, unskilled, untrained, brainless, dumb, idiotic, imbecile, moronic, stupid, witless, foolish, senseless, silly
   opposite: educated, knowledgeable, lettered, literate, schooled, well-informed, well-read
   near: brilliant, intelligent, smart, experienced, expert, trained, erudite, learned, polyhistoric, polymath, scholarly, cultivated, cultured, highbrow, intellectual, sophisticated, acquainted, aware, familiar

7. not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily

   "don't be so quick to characterize people who have trouble with computers as simple"

   similar: airheaded, birdbrained, bonehead, boneheaded, brain-dead, brainless, bubbleheaded, chuckleheaded, dense, dim, dim-witted, doltish, dopey, dorky (slang), dull, dumb, dunderheaded, empty-headed, fatuous, gormless (chiefly British), half-witted, knuckleheaded, lamebrain, lunkheaded, mindless, oafish, obtuse, opaque, pinheaded, senseless, slow, slow-witted, soft, softheaded, stupid, thick, thick-witted, thickheaded, unintelligent, unsmart, vacuous, weak-minded, witless
   related: cretinous, feebleminded, simpleminded, boobish, foolish, idiotic, imbecile, moronic, ignorant, illiterate, lowbrow, uneducated, uninformed, unintellectual, untaught, unthinking, absurd, asinine, balmy, cockeyed, crackpot, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dippy, dotty, featherheaded, fool, half-baked, harebrained, insane, kooky, loony, mad, nonsensical, nutty, preposterous, sappy, screwball, silly, tomfool, unwise, wacky, zany, fallacious, illogical, invalid, irrational, unreasonable
   opposite: apt, brainy, bright, brilliant, clever, fast, hyperintelligent, intelligent, keen, nimble, quick, quick-witted, sharp, sharp-witted, smart, supersmart, ultrasmart
   near: ingenious, resourceful, acute, astute, discerning, insightful, keen, knowing, perceptive, percipient, perspicacious, sagacious, sage, sapient, savvy, wise, cerebral, erudite, highbrow, intellectual, knowledgeable, learned, literate, scholarly, thinking, well-read, educated, informed, schooled, skilled, trained, crafty, cunning, foxy, shrewd, wily, judicious, prudent, sane, sensible, sound, logical, rational, reasonable, valid