[
UK
/plˈeɪn/
]
[ US /ˈpɫeɪn/ ]
[ US /ˈpɫeɪn/ ]
VERB
-
express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness
My mother complains all day
She has a lot to kick about
ADJECTIVE
-
clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment
it is plain that he is no reactionary
evident hostility
the effects of the drought are apparent to anyone who sees the parched fields
in plain view
a palpable lie
a palpable lie
manifest disapproval
made his meaning plain
patent advantages -
lacking in physical beauty or proportion
a homely child
a plain girl with a freckled face
several of the buildings were downright homely -
lacking embellishment or ornamentation
a plain hair style
functional architecture featuring stark unornamented concrete
unembellished white walls - lacking patterns especially in color
-
not mixed with extraneous elements
sheer wine
not an unmixed blessing
plain water -
free from any effort to soften to disguise
the unvarnished candor of old people and children
the plain and unvarnished truth -
not elaborate or elaborated; simple
a plain blue suit
plain food
stuck to the plain facts
a plain rectangular brick building
NOUN
- a basic knitting stitch made by putting the needle through the front of the stitch from the lefthand side
-
extensive tract of level open land
they emerged from the woods onto a vast open plain
he longed for the fields of his youth
ADVERB
-
unmistakably (`plain' is often used informally for `plainly')
You are plainly wrong
he is plain stubborn
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
I thought he owned the property, but apparently not
she has apparently been living here for some time
How To Use plain In A Sentence
- Their dried dung is found everywhere, and is in many places the only fuel afforded by the plains; their skulls, which last longer than any other part of the animal, are among the most familiar of objects to the plainsman; their bones are in many districts so plentiful that it has become a regular industry, followed by hundreds of men (christened "bone hunters" by the frontiersmen), to go out with wagons and collect them in great numbers for the sake of the phosphates they yield; and Bad Lands, plateaus, and prairies alike, are cut up in all directions by the deep ruts which were formerly buffalo trails. VIII. The Lordly Buffalo
- Does the plain, unsugared doughy type bagel look alike surpass the overly decorated with hundreds and thousands and pumped full of sweet chemicals with optional coating of chocolate (half dipped) Tescos Express doughnut win every time? Rabbit Stew. « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG
- Sometime in the early eighteen hundreds, they trekked to the flat plain between the Ohio River and Lake Erie and settled in Mount Vernon, which was then a few small buildings in a forest of tall trees. A Renegade History of the United States
- We love our king, we just don't love the way he abuses our money," a Swazi friend once explained to me. How long can Swaziland resist reform?
- His wife shopped him to me with a bitter complaint about his clothes bill.
- Her mother has written to him explaining the situation but has not heard back.
- You come along with me and I'll introduce you (he's not what you call a refined sort of feller, yer know, 'he explained forbearingly,' but still we've always been friends in a way); you can't stop? The Giant's Robe
- Serial killer plots (or subplots) just plain annoy me. Great Things Come to Those Who Wait : The Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas
- Thereafter thought, weighing the truth or falseness of the notion, determines what is true: and this explains the Greek word for thought, dianoia, which is derived from dianoein, meaning to think and discriminate. NPNF2-09. Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus
- That's when I noticed the little sticker on the window explaining the purpose of the ‘Child Safety Lock’.