PLAIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does plain mean? 

• PLAIN (noun)
  The noun PLAIN has 2 senses:

1. extensive tract of level open land

2. a basic knitting stitch made by putting the needle through the front of the stitch from the lefthand side

  Familiarity information: PLAIN used as a noun is rare.

• PLAIN (adjective)
  The adjective PLAIN has 7 senses:

1. clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment

2. not elaborate or elaborated; simple

3. lacking patterns especially in color

4. not mixed with extraneous elements

5. free from any effort to soften to disguise

6. lacking embellishment or ornamentation

7. lacking in physical beauty or proportion

  Familiarity information: PLAIN used as an adjective is common.

• PLAIN (verb)
  The verb PLAIN has 1 sense:

1. express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness

  Familiarity information: PLAIN used as a verb is very rare.

• PLAIN (adverb)
  The adverb PLAIN has 1 sense:

1. unmistakably ('plain' is often used informally for 'plainly')

  Familiarity information: PLAIN used as an adverb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PLAIN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Extensive tract of level open land

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

champaign; field; plain

Context example:

he longed for the fields of his youth

Hypernyms ("plain" is a kind of...):

dry land; earth; ground; land; solid ground; terra firma (the solid part of the earth's surface)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "plain"):

tundra (a vast treeless plain in the Arctic regions where the subsoil is permanently frozen)

flat (a level tract of land)

flood plain; floodplain (a low plain adjacent to a river that is formed chiefly of river sediment and is subject to flooding)

llano (an extensive grassy and nearly treeless plain (especially in Latin America))

moor; moorland (open land usually with peaty soil covered with heather and bracken and moss)

peneplain; peneplane (a more or less level land surface representing an advanced stage of erosion undisturbed by crustal movements)

snowfield (a permanent wide expanse of snow)

steppe (extensive plain without trees (associated with eastern Russia and Siberia))

Instance hyponyms:

Nullarbor Plain (a vast arid plain of southern Australia stretching inland from the Great Australian Bight; has sparse vegetation and no surface water and is almost uninhabited; the site of a major rocket research center)

Olympia (a plain in Greece in the northwestern Peloponnese; the chief sanctuary of Zeus and the site of the original Olympian Games)

Serengeti; Serengeti Plain (a vast plain in Tanzania to the west of the Great Rift Valley known for its wildlife)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A basic knitting stitch made by putting the needle through the front of the stitch from the lefthand side

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

knit; knit stitch; plain; plain stitch

Hypernyms ("plain" is a kind of...):

knitting stitch (a stitch taken in knitting)

• PLAIN (adjective)

Declension: comparative and superlative

Sense 1

Meaning:

Clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment

Synonyms:

apparent; evident; manifest; palpable; patent; plain; unmistakable

Context example:

a palpable lie

Similar:

obvious (easily perceived by the senses or grasped by the mind)

Derivation:

plainness (clarity as a consequence of being perspicuous)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Not elaborate or elaborated; simple

Context example:

a plain rectangular brick building

Similar:

vanilla (plain and without any extras or adornments)

tailored; trim (severely simple in line or design)

simple (unornamented)

chaste (pure and simple in design or style)

literal (avoiding embellishment or exaggeration (used for emphasis))

inelaborate; unelaborate (not elaborate; lacking rich or complex detail)

homely (plain and unpretentious)

featureless (lacking distinguishing characteristics or features)

dry (having no adornment or coloration)

dry ((of food) eaten without a spread or sauce or other garnish)

bare; mere; simple (apart from anything else; without additions or modifications)

austere; severe; stark; stern (severely simple)

Also:

unadorned; undecorated (not decorated with something to increase its beauty or distinction)

unpretentious (lacking pretension or affectation)

unrhetorical (not rhetorical)

simple (having few parts; not complex or complicated or involved)

Antonym:

fancy (not plain; decorative or ornamented)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Lacking patterns especially in color

Synonyms:

plain; unpatterned

Similar:

solid-colored; solid-coloured (having the same color all over)

Antonym:

patterned (having patterns (especially colorful patterns))

Sense 4

Meaning:

Not mixed with extraneous elements

Synonyms:

plain; sheer; unmingled; unmixed

Context example:

not an unmixed blessing

Similar:

pure (free of extraneous elements of any kind)

Derivation:

plainness (the state of being unmixed with other material)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Free from any effort to soften to disguise

Synonyms:

plain; unvarnished

Context example:

the unvarnished candor of old people and children

Similar:

direct (straightforward in means or manner or behavior or language or action)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Lacking embellishment or ornamentation

Synonyms:

bare; plain; spare; unembellished; unornamented

Context example:

functional architecture featuring stark unornamented concrete

Similar:

unadorned; undecorated (not decorated with something to increase its beauty or distinction)

Derivation:

plainness (the appearance of being plain and unpretentious)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Lacking in physical beauty or proportion

Synonyms:

homely; plain

Context example:

a plain girl with a freckled face

Similar:

unattractive (lacking beauty or charm)

Derivation:

plainness (an appearance that is not attractive or beautiful)

• PLAIN (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

complain; kick; kvetch; plain; quetch; sound off

Context example:

She has a lot to kick about

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "plain"):

bleat (talk whiningly)

report (complain about; make a charge against)

bemoan; bewail; deplore; lament (regret strongly)

inveigh; rail (complain bitterly)

beef; bellyache; bitch; crab; gripe; grouse; holler; squawk (complain)

repine (express discontent)

protest (utter words of protest)

grouch; grumble; scold (show one's unhappiness or critical attitude)

croak; gnarl; grumble; murmur; mutter (make complaining remarks or noises under one's breath)

grizzle; whine; yammer; yawp (complain whiningly)

backbite; bitch (say mean things)

hen-peck; nag; peck (bother persistently with trivial complaints)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

• PLAIN (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Unmistakably ('plain' is often used informally for 'plainly')

Synonyms:

apparently; evidently; manifestly; obviously; patently; plain; plainly

Context example:

he is plain stubborn

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

 Context examples 

His hand trembles, his speech is not plain, and his eyes look wild.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It is plain that his mother is Kiche.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

It's just the place for boys, the house is big, and the furniture strong and plain.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I hope that I make it all plain?

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

From that time on all was plain.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The sails of the vessel I had seen off to the south-west had grown larger and plainer.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The Professor laid his hand tenderly on his shoulder as he spoke:—Ah, my child, I will be plain.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

In the early morning we approached it, but only to find, to our amazement, not one fire but a dozen upon the plain.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You—poor and obscure, and small and plain as you are—I entreat to accept me as a husband.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He did not mean to say that there were no pretty women, but the number of the plain was out of all proportion.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)