Plain Pleɪn Simple Extra Examples Made Dress Food

• a plain but elegant dress
• plain food
• the interior of the church was plain and simple.
• plain yogurt (= without sugar or fruit)

plain

1. not decorated or complicated; simple
• COMPARE fancy
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/fancy_3
• a plain but elegant dress
• plain food
• The interior of the church was plain and simple.
• plain yogurt (= without sugar or fruit)

Extra Examples

• The dress was absolutely plain, but quite stunning.
• The food was fairly plain, but well cooked.
• I prefer plain, simple things.
• He eats his popcorn plain.
2. without marks or a pattern on it
• covers in plain or printed cotton
• Write on plain paper (= without lines).

Extra Examples

• Patterned carpet shows the dirt less than a plain colour.
• a range of plain and printed linens
• Do you want plain or lined paper?
• a plain white shirt
3. easy to see or understand
• SYNONYM clear
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/clear_2
• He made it plain that we should leave.
• She made her annoyance plain.
• The facts were plain to see.
• It was a rip-off, plain and simple.
• It is all very plain to me.
• It was plain that she wanted to leave.
• It was plain to everyone just how dangerous the site could be.
• What is quite plain from the evidence before me is (that) the figures are false.

Extra Examples

• They made it plain that they were against the idea.
• Within weeks, it became perfectly plain that we were in the grip of a tyrant.
• He made it very plain that he wanted us to leave.
• Her intentions were plain enough.
• It was plain to us that they had left fairly recently.
4. not trying to trick anyone; honest and direct
• The plain fact is that nobody really knows.
• a politician with a reputation for plain speaking
• a plain, straightforward sort of man

Extra Examples

• He prided himself on being a plain, honest man with no nonsense about him.
• Let's be plain about this: we will need to make some difficult choices.
5. used to emphasize that something is very ordinary, not special in any way
• SYNONYM everyday
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/everyday
• You don't need any special skills for this job, just plain common sense.
• The situation thrives on half-truths and plain ignorance.
6. not beautiful or attractive
• She looked very plain and dowdy.
• a rather plain woman
• As a child she was rather plain.
7. describing a simple stitch used in knitting
8. to be simple and free from trouble
9. simply and clearly expressed, without using technical language
• a document written in plain English
• If you could put it in plain English I might be able to understand.
• Teachers should encourage students to write in plain English.
10. very obvious

Word Origin

• Middle English: from Old French plain, from Latin planus, from a base meaning ‘flat’.