What does "plain" mean?
An expanse of land with relatively low relief and few trees, especially a grassy expanse.
Plain
/plɛjn/ adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An expanse of land with relatively low relief and few trees, especially a grassy expanse.
- Grammar: plain is listed as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: abrupt, absolute, absolutely, accessible.
- Useful contrasts: beautiful, bells and whistles, decorative.
- Usage evidence: Your opinion is off the mark. That's plain to anyone.
How to use "plain"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "plain" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "plain" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "plain" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "plain" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "plain" is acting as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abrupt" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "plain", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An expanse of land with relatively low relief and few trees, especially a grassy expanse.
"Him the Ammonite / Worshipped in Rabba and her watery plain."
- 2 A lamentation. poetic, rare
"The warrior-threat, the infant's plain, The mother's screams, were heard in vain;"
- 3 a basic knitting stitch made by putting the needle through the front of the stitch from the lefthand side wordnet
- 4 A broad, flat expanse in general, as of water.
"Fair ship, that from the Italian shore, Sailest the placid ocean-plains With my lost Arthur’s loved remains, Spread thy full wings, and waft him o’er."
- 5 extensive tract of level open land wordnet
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 Synonym of field in reference to a battlefield. archaic
"You have stormed no town and found the money there ; neither did you find it in the plains of Plassey after the defeat of the Nawab"
- 7 Alternative spelling of plane: a flat geometric field. alt-of, alternative, obsolete
Verb
- 1 To level; to raze; to make plain or even on the surface. obsolete, transitive
"Frownst thou thereat aspiring Lancaster, The sworde shall plane the furrowes of thy browes,"
- 2 To complain. obsolete, reflexive
"Persones and parisch prestes · pleyned hem to þe bischop / Þat here parisshes were pore · sith þe pestilence tyme […]."
- 3 express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness wordnet
- 4 To make plain or manifest; to explain. obsolete, transitive
"What’s dumb in show, I’ll plain with speech."
- 5 To lament, bewail. ambitransitive, archaic, poetic
"to plain a loss"
Adjective
- 1 Flat, level. archaic, regional
"The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain."
- 2 Full, complete in number or extent. obsolete
- 3 Simple, unaltered.; Ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation; unembellished.
"He was dressed simply in plain black clothes."
- 4 Simple, unaltered.; Of just one colour; lacking a pattern.
"a plain pink polycotton skirt"
- 5 Simple, unaltered.; Simple in habits or qualities; unsophisticated, not exceptional, ordinary.
"They're just plain people like you or me."
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 Simple, unaltered.; Having only few ingredients, or no additional ingredients or seasonings; not elaborate, without toppings or extras.
"Would you like a poppy bagel or a plain bagel?"
- 7 Simple, unaltered.; Containing no extended or nonprinting characters (especially in plain text).
- 8 Obvious.; Evident to one's senses or reason; manifest, clear, unmistakable.
"In fact, by excommunication or persuasion, by impetuosity of driving or adroitness in leading, this Abbot, it is now becoming plain everywhere, is a man that generally remains master at last."
- 9 Obvious.; Downright; total, unmistakable (as intensifier).
"His answer was just plain nonsense."
- 10 Open.; Honest and without deception; candid, open; blunt.
"Let me be plain with you: I don't like her."
- 11 Open.; Clear; unencumbered; equal; fair.
"Our troops beat an army in plain fight."
- 12 Not unusually beautiful; unattractive.
"Throughout high school she worried that she had a rather plain face."
- 13 Not a trump.
Adjective
- 1 lacking embellishment or ornamentation wordnet
- 2 lacking in physical beauty or proportion wordnet
- 3 free from any effort to soften to disguise wordnet
- 4 clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment wordnet
- 5 lacking patterns especially in color wordnet
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 not elaborate or elaborated; simple wordnet
- 7 not mixed with extraneous elements wordnet
Adverb
- 1 Simply. colloquial, not-comparable
"It was just plain stupid."
- 2 Plainly; distinctly. archaic, not-comparable
"Tell me plain: do you love me or no?"
Adverb
- 1 unmistakably (‘plain’ is often used informally for ‘plainly’) wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"Your opinion is off the mark. That's plain to anyone."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "plain"?
Common synonyms include: abrupt, absolute, absolutely, accessible, affable, agricultural region.
How do you use "plain" in a sentence?
Your opinion is off the mark. That's plain to anyone.
How do you pronounce "plain"?
Pronounced /plɛjn/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English pleyn, borrowed from Anglo-Norman pleyn, playn, Middle French plain, plein, and Old French plain, from Latin plānus (“flat, even, level, plain”). Doublet of llano, piano, and plane.
Etymology 2
From Old French plain, from Latin plānum (“level ground, a plain”), neuter substantive from plānus (“level, even, flat”). Doublet of llano, piano, and plane.
Etymology 3
From Anglo-Norman plainer, pleiner, variant of Anglo-Norman and Old French pleindre, plaindre, from Latin plangere.
Etymology 4
From Middle English pleyn, borrowed from Old French plein, from Latin plēnus (“full, filled, complete”). Ultimately from Proto-Italic *plēnos, from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós (“full”). Doublet of plene, plenary, and full.