What does plain mean?
Definitions for plain
pleɪnplain
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word plain.
Princeton's WordNet
plain, field, champaignnoun
extensive tract of level open land
"they emerged from the woods onto a vast open plain"; "he longed for the fields of his youth"
knit, knit stitch, plain, plain stitchadjective
a basic knitting stitch
apparent, evident, manifest, patent, plain, unmistakableadjective
clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment
"the effects of the drought are apparent to anyone who sees the parched fields"; "evident hostility"; "manifest disapproval"; "patent advantages"; "made his meaning plain"; "it is plain that he is no reactionary"; "in plain view"
plainadjective
not elaborate or elaborated; simple
"plain food"; "stuck to the plain facts"; "a plain blue suit"; "a plain rectangular brick building"
plain, unpatternedadjective
lacking patterns especially in color
plain, sheer, unmingled, unmixedadjective
not mixed with extraneous elements
"plain water"; "sheer wine"; "not an unmixed blessing"
plain, unvarnishedadjective
free from any effort to soften to disguise
"the plain and unvarnished truth"; "the unvarnished candor of old people and children"
plain, bare, spare, unembellished, unornamentedadjective
lacking embellishment or ornamentation
"a plain hair style"; "unembellished white walls"; "functional architecture featuring stark unornamented concrete"
homely, plainverb
lacking in physical beauty or proportion
"a homely child"; "several of the buildings were downright homely"; "a plain girl with a freckled face"
complain, kick, plain, sound off, quetch, kvetchadverb
express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness
"My mother complains all day"; "She has a lot to kick about"
obviously, evidently, manifestly, patently, apparently, plainly, plainadverb
unmistakably (`plain' is often used informally for `plainly')
"the answer is obviously wrong"; "she was in bed and evidently in great pain"; "he was manifestly too important to leave off the guest list"; "it is all patently nonsense"; "she has apparently been living here for some time"; "I thought he owned the property, but apparently not"; "You are plainly wrong"; "he is plain stubborn"
Webster Dictionary
Plainverb
to lament; to bewail; to complain
Plainverb
to lament; to mourn over; as, to plain a loss
Plain
without elevations or depressions; flat; level; smooth; even. See Plane
Plain
open; clear; unencumbered; equal; fair
Plain
not intricate or difficult; evident; manifest; obvious; clear; unmistakable
Plain
void of extraneous beauty or ornament; without conspicious embellishment; not rich; simple
Plain
not highly cultivated; unsophisticated; free from show or pretension; simple; natural; homely; common
Plain
free from affectation or disguise; candid; sincere; artless; honest; frank
Plain
not luxurious; not highly seasoned; simple; as, plain food
Plain
without beauty; not handsome; homely; as, a plain woman
Plain
not variegated, dyed, or figured; as, plain muslin
Plain
not much varied by modulations; as, a plain tune
Plainadverb
in a plain manner; plainly
Plainadjective
level land; usually, an open field or a broad stretch of land with an even surface, or a surface little varied by inequalities; as, the plain of Jordan; the American plains, or prairies
Plainadjective
a field of battle
Plain
to plane or level; to make plain or even on the surface
Plain
to make plain or manifest; to explain
Etymology: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]
Freebase
Plain
In geography, a plain are fertile regions. They are vast and flat and are very conductive to habitation. For these reasons, the plains of the world have the highest density of population. Some of them have been cradles of famous civilizations. Large rivers and their tributaries that provide enough water for human and animal consumption usually drain plains. Plains occur as lowlands and at the bottoms of valleys but also on plateaus at high elevations. In a valley, a plain is enclosed on two sides but in other cases a plain may be delineated by a complete or partial ring of hills, by mountains or cliffs. Where a geological region contains more than one plain, they may be connected by a pass. Plains may have been formed from flowing lava, deposited by water, ice or wind, or formed by erosion by these agents from hills and mountains. Plains in many areas are important for agriculture because where the soils were deposited as sediments they may be deep and fertile, and the flatness facilitates mechanization of crop production; or because they support grasslands which provide good grazing for livestock.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Plain
plān, v.t. and v.i. to complain: to lament.—ns. Plain′ant, one who complains: a plaintiff; Plain′ing (Shak.), complaint. [O. Fr. pleigner (Fr. plaindre)—L. plangĕre, to lament.]
Plain
plān, adj. without elevations, even, flat: level, smooth, without obstructions: free from difficulties, easy, simple: without ornament or beauty, homely: artless: sincere: evident, unmistakable: mere: not coloured, figured, or variegated: not highly seasoned, natural, not cooked or dressed: not trumps at cards.—n. an extent of level land: an open field.—adv. clearly: distinctly.—v.t. (obs.) to make plain.—n.pl. Plain′-clothes, clothes worn by an officer when off duty or not in uniform.—ns. Plain′-cook, one able to cook all ordinary dishes; Plain′-deal′er, one who deals or speaks his mind plainly.—adj. Plain′-deal′ing, speaking or acting plainly, candid.—n. candid speaking or acting, sincerity.—adj. Plain′-heart′ed, having a plain or honest heart: sincere.—n. Plain′-heart′edness.—adv. Plain′ly.—ns. Plain′ness; Plain′-song, the music of a recitative-like character and sung in unison, used in the Christian Church of the West from the earliest times, and still in use in all R.C. churches: a simple air without variations: a plain unvarnished statement; Plain′-speak′ing, straight-forwardness or bluntness of speech.—adj. Plain′-spok′en, speaking with plain, rough sincerity.—n.pl. Plain′stanes (Scot.), flagstones, pavement.—n. Plain′work, plain needlework, as distinguished from embroidery.—Plain as a pikestaff, perfectly plain or clear. [Fr.,—L. plānus, plain.]
Dictionary of Nautical Terms
plain
A term used in contradistinction to mountain, though far from implying a level surface, and it may be either elevated or low.
Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
plain
A field of battle.
Etymology and Origins
Plain
The name given to the Girondist party on the floor of the French House of Assembly during the Revolution, as opposed to the “Mountain” party.
Matched Categories
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'plain' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3492
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'plain' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2790
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'plain' in Nouns Frequency: #2147
Adjectives Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'plain' in Adjectives Frequency: #453
Anagrams for plain »
Lapin
Lipan
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of plain in Chaldean Numerology is: 9
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of plain in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7
Examples of plain in a Sentence
I made it very clear that I made a mistake, plain and simple.
I've said time and time again that this is unacceptable, that if you come after Joe Biden, you're going to have to deal with me in this case. There is no — as you said — these are baseless, unfounded, scurrilous lies, plain and simple, trying to undermine the character of one of the statesmen of our country, not our party, but our country. And so, yeah, you've got a problem with me.
You're looking for something that is slightly hidden, the secret that was hidden in plain sight.
We have watched the coffee category expand and adapt as Millennials converted to coffee drinkers, attracted by the smoother flavor and artisanal characteristics and third - and fourth-wave coffee, we knew our culinary team could deliver that same premium, hand-crafted sensory experience with the bellowed category hero of espresso in our best-in-class, fresh-baked bagel. The caffeine in the bagel is sourced from both espresso and coffee-cherry flour. Einstein’s exact recipe is proprietary but in addition to packing a caffeinated punch, the new bagel also has 13 grams of protein, derived from cocoa. We ’d all love a little extra energy in the morning, but do the enhancned bagels actually taste any good ? The product left tasters divided in a pretty even split. The product itself resembles a dark brown pumpernickel bagel and, upon the first few nibbles, tastes like a chewy plain bagel with a slightly sweet taste. After a few more bites, however, the bitterness from the espresso really kicks in.
I am just a plain, common man.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for plain
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- بسيطArabic
- pampaAymara
- раўнінаBelarusian
- равнинаBulgarian
- simple, senzill, net, pla, naturalCatalan, Valencian
- prostý, obyčejný, pláň, planinaCzech
- ensfarvet, sletteDanish
- schlicht, Natur, EbeneGerman
- πεδιάδαGreek
- ebeno, ebenaĵoEsperanto
- [[con]] [[caracter]]es [[normal]]es, desabrido, natural, sencillo, [[sin]] caracteres especiales, llanura, planicie, [[libre]] de caracteres [[especial]]esSpanish
- xume, lau, apalBasque
- tasanko, tavallinen, yksinkertainen, selväFinnish
- plaine, nature, simpleFrench
- sìmplidhScottish Gaelic
- alföld, egyszerű, síkság, rónaHungarian
- հարթավայր, պարզ, դաշտավայրArmenian
- flatlendiIcelandic
- pianura, sempliceItalian
- רגילHebrew
- 平野, 普通, 平地, 平, 普段, 平易, 質素Japanese
- វាល, វាលរាប, វាលទំនាបKhmer
- 소박한Korean
- سادهKurdish
- sàhaMalagasy
- māmore, tōtōkau, pākihi, taramore, tōkau, māniaMāori
- рамнинаMacedonian
- dataranMalay
- ensfarget, ensfargaNorwegian
- vlakte, eenvoudig, kaalDutch
- einsfarga, slette, slettNorwegian Nynorsk
- sletteNorwegian
- halgaiNavajo, Navaho
- zwyczajny, prosty, równina, zwykłyPolish
- simples, natural, planície, insípidoPortuguese
- pampaQuechua
- șes, câmpieRomanian
- обыкновенный, обычный, равнина, простойRussian
- običan, jednostavan, ravnica, равницаSerbo-Croatian
- rovina, planinaSlovak
- rovinaSlovene
- slätt, enfärgad, vanligSwedish
- ที่ราบThai
- ovaTurkish
- рівнинаUkrainian
- đồng bằngVietnamese
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"plain." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2022. Web. 29 Jun 2022. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/plain>.
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