| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| plain |
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| PRONUNCIATION: |  pl n |
| ADJECTIVE: | Inflected forms: plain·er, plain·est
1. Free from obstructions; open; clear: in plain view. 2. Obvious to the mind; evident: make one's intention plain. See synonyms at apparent. 3. Not elaborate or complicated; simple: plain food. 4. Straightforward; frank or candid: plain talk. 5. Not mixed with other substances; pure: plain water. 6. Common in rank or station; average; ordinary: a plain man. 7. Not pretentious; unaffected. 8. Marked by little or no ornamentation or decoration. 9. Not dyed, twilled, or patterned: a plain fabric. 10. Lacking beauty or distinction: a plain face. 11. Sheer; utter; unqualified: plain stupidity. 12. Archaic Having no visible elevation or depression; flat; level. | | NOUN: | 1a. An extensive, level, usually treeless area of land. b. A broad level expanse, as a part of the sea floor or a lunar mare. 2. Something free of ornamentation or extraneous matter. | | ADVERB: | Informal Clearly; simply: plain stubborn. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, from Old French, from Latin plnus. See pel -2 in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | plain ly —ADVERB
plainness —NOUN
| | SYNONYMS: | plain, modest, simple, unostentatious, unpretentious These adjectives mean not ornate, ostentatious, or showy: a plain hairstyle; a modest cottage; a simple dark suit; an unostentatious office; an unpretentious country church. | | ANTONYM: | ornate
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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