1. Clearly noticeable or obvious to the senses or understanding
   "made his meaning plain"; "it is plain that he is no reactionary"; "in plain view";
   - apparent, evident, manifest, palpable, patent, unmistakable, unmistakeable
    
2. Not elaborate or elaborated; simple
   "a plain blue suit"; "a plain rectangular brick building"; "plain food"; "stuck to the plain facts"
    
3. Lacking embellishment or ornamentation
   "a plain hair style";
   - bare, spare, unembellished, unornamented
    
4. Lacking patterns especially in colour
   "The plain fabric provided a neutral backdrop for the colourful accessories";
   - unpatterned
    
5. Not mixed with extraneous elements
   "plain water";
   - sheer, unmingled, unmixed
    
6. Without modification, esp. without any attempt to soften or disguise
   "the plain and unvarnished truth";
   - unvarnished
    
7. Lacking in physical beauty or proportion
   "a plain girl with a freckled face";
   - homely [N. Amer], unhandsome

1. Extensive tract of level open land
   "they emerged from the woods onto a vast open plain";
   - field, champaign [archaic], flatland
    
2. A basic knitting stitch made by putting the needle through the front of the stitch from the lefthand side
   "She began her scarf with a row of simple plain stitches";
   - knit, knit stitch, plain stitch

1. Unmistakably; visibly clear; in an evident manner
   "he is plain stubborn";
   - obviously, evidently, manifestly, patently, apparently, plainly, obvs [non-standard, informal], clearly

1. Express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness
   "She plained about the unfair treatment at work";
   - complain, kick [informal], sound off, kvetch [N. Amer, informal], moan

Sounds like: place, p, plain

Derived forms: plainer, plained, plains, plainest, plaining

See also: austere, bare, chaste, direct, dry, featureless, homely, inelaborate, literal, mere, obvious, pure, severe, simple, solid-colored [US], solid-coloured [Brit, Cdn], stark, stern, tailored, trim, unadorned, unattractive, undecorated, unelaborate, unpretentious, unrhetorical, vanilla [informal]

Type of: dry land, earth, express, give tongue to, ground, knitting stitch, land, solid ground, terra firma, utter, verbalise [Brit], verbalize

Antonym: fancy, patterned

Encyclopedia: Plain, WI