plain
1. extensive tract of level open land (Freq. 1)
- they emerged from the woods onto a vast open plain
- he longed for the fields of his youth
• Syn:
field, champaign
• Hypernyms:
land, dry land, earth, ground, solid ground, terra firma
• Hyponyms:
flat, floodplain, flood plain, llano, moor,
moorland, peneplain, peneplane, snowfield, steppe, tundra
• Instance Hyponyms:
Olympia, Nullarbor Plain, Serengeti, Serengeti Plain
2. a basic knitting stitch
• Syn:
knit, knit stitch, plain stitch
• Derivationally related forms:
knit (for: knit)
• Hypernyms:
knitting stitch
express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness
- My mother complains all day
- She has a lot to kick about
• Syn:
complain, kick, sound off, quetch, kvetch
• Ant:
cheer (for: complain)
• Derivationally related forms:
kick (for: kick), complaint (for: complain), complainer (for: complain)
• Hyponyms:
nag, peck, hen-peck, backbite, bitch,
whine, grizzle, yammer, yawp, murmur, mutter,
grumble, croak, gnarl, grouch, scold, protest,
repine, gripe, grouse, crab, beef, squawk,
bellyache, holler, rail, inveigh, deplore, lament,
bewail, bemoan, report, bleat
• Verb Frames:
- Somebody ----s
- Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
1. clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment (Freq. 8)
- 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
• Syn:
apparent, evident, manifest, patent, unmistakable
• Similar to:
obvious
• Derivationally related forms:
plainness, patency (for: patent), evidence (for: evident), apparency (for: apparent), appear (for: apparent), apparentness (for: apparent)
2. not elaborate or elaborated;
simple (Freq. 1)
- plain food
- stuck to the plain facts
- a plain blue suit
- a plain rectangular brick building
• Ant:
fancy
• Similar to:
austere, severe, stark, stern, bare,
mere, simple, chaste, dry, featureless, homely,
inelaborate, unelaborate, literal, tailored, trim, vanilla
• See Also:
simple, unadorned, undecorated, unrhetorical, unpretentious
3. lacking patterns especially in color (Freq. 1)
• Syn:
unpatterned
• Ant:
patterned
• Similar to:
solid-colored, solid-coloured
4. not mixed with extraneous elements (Freq. 1)
- plain water
- sheer wine
- not an unmixed blessing
• Syn:
sheer, unmingled, unmixed
• Similar to:
pure
• Derivationally related forms:
plainness
5. free from any effort to soften to disguise (Freq. 1)
- the plain and unvarnished truth
- the unvarnished candor of old people and children
• Syn:
unvarnished
• Similar to:
direct
6. lacking embellishment or ornamentation (Freq. 1)
- a plain hair style
- unembellished white walls
- functional architecture featuring stark unornamented concrete
• Syn:
bare, spare, unembellished, unornamented
• Similar to:
unadorned, undecorated
• Derivationally related forms:
plainness
7. lacking in physical beauty or proportion
- a homely child
- several of the buildings were downright homely
- a plain girl with a freckled face
• Syn:
homely
• Similar to:
unattractive
• Derivationally related forms:
plainness, homeliness (for: homely)
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
• Syn:
obviously, evidently, manifestly, patently, apparently, plainly
• Derived from adjective:
plain (for: plainly), apparent (for: apparently), patent (for: patently), manifest (for: manifestly), evident (for: evidently), obvious (for: obviously)
• Usage Domain:
colloquialism
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