[
UK
/plˈeɪnli/
]
[ US /ˈpɫeɪnɫi/ ]
[ US /ˈpɫeɪnɫi/ ]
ADVERB
-
in a simple manner; without extravagance or embellishment
she was dressed plainly
they lived very simply -
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 plainly In A Sentence
- He looked up, anger and frustration still showing plainly on his expressive face.
- He plainly demanded to be in the thick of the action all of the time.
- The fable is plainly implex, formed rather from the "Odyssey" than the "Iliad;" and many artifices of diversification are employed, with the skill of a man acquainted with the beet models. Lives of the English Poets : Waller, Milton, Cowley
- I must have more than 'intimated' -- I must have spoken plainly out the truth, if I do myself the barest justice, and told you long ago that the admiration at your works went _away_, quite another way and afar from the love of you. The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett, Vol. 1 (of 2) 1845-1846
- A friend, he explained, had promised to meet him in that place; and though the shopwoman plainly doubted his veracity, and kept a sharp eye that he did not take to his heels with the cairngorm, she did not go so far as to suggest his removing himself from the zone of temptation. The Ashiel mystery A Detective Story
- You're resplendent young ladies, that is plainly seen!
- The laws of Nature, that is to say the laws of God, plainly made every human being a law unto himself, we must steadfastly refuse to obey those laws, and we must as steadfastly stand by the conventions which ignore them, since the statutes furnish us peace, fairly good government and stability, and therefore are better for us than the laws of God, which would soon plunge us into confusion and disorder and anarchy if we should adopt them.
- By these tests we plainly understand the “flesh” to be antagonistical to the Spirit. The Gospel Day Or, the Light of Christianity
- gentled" him all over his miserable frame, as he lay panting and overpowered on the sawdust, conquered and convinced at last, all his mistakes and misconceptions of other people came before him, as plainly as if Taffy himself had spoken them; so plainly, that he wondered at himself. Parables From Nature
- He is indulgent about this, but plainly baffled.