Word.ws English Dictionary

plain

UK/pleɪn/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Scotland/plen/

plain adjective: flat, level. Also the alternative spelling of plane.

plain: flat, level
Image: http://hin.nhlbi.nih.gov/portion/portion.cgi?action=question, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Adjective (1)

plain (comparative plainer, superlative plainest)

  1. (archaic, regional) Flat, level.
    • The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 40:4
    • The Vampyre Bat. Tailless bat with the nose plain, and the flying-membrane divided between the thighs.1790, George Shaw, Speculum Linnaeanum, sive Zoologiae Linnaeanae illustratio
    Synonyms:
    even, planar, plane
  2. Ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation; unembellished.
    • He was dressed simply in plain black clothes.
    • a plain tune
  3. Of just one colour; lacking a pattern.
    • a plain pink polycotton skirt
  4. Simple in habits or qualities; unsophisticated, not exceptional, ordinary.
    • They're just plain people like you or me.
    • plain yet pious Christians1654, Henry Hammond, Of Fundamentals
  5. 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?
  6. Containing no extended or nonprinting characters (especially in plain text).
  7. 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.1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “ch. XV, Practical — Devotional”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book II (The...
  8. Downright; total, unmistakable (as intensifier).
    • His answer was just plain nonsense.
  9. Honest and without deception; candid, open; blunt.
    • Let me be plain with you: I don't like her.
    • [VV]e are able with playne demonſtration to proue, and vvith reaſon to perſvvade that in tymes paſt our fayth vvas alike, that then vve preached thinges correſpondent vnto the forme of faith already published of vs, ſo that none in this behalfe can repyne or gaynesay vs.1577, Socrates Scholasticus [i.e., Socrates of Constantinople], “Constantinus the Emperour Summoneth the Nicene Councell, it was Held at Nicæa a Citie of Bythnia for the Debatinge of the Controuersie...
  10. Clear; unencumbered; equal; fair.
    • Our troops beat an army in plain fight.1711, Henry Felton, Dissertation on Reading the Classics
  11. Not unusually beautiful; unattractive.
    • Throughout high school she worried that she had a rather plain face.
    • Up to that time the girl had never really done her hair, and she regarded boots merely as things to protect the feet. Suddenly it dawned on her that she was considered plain and that she diffused an atmosphere of intellectual frost.1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries
  12. Not a trump.

Adverb

plain (not comparable)

  1. (colloquial) Simply.
    • It was just plain stupid.
    • I plain forgot.
  2. (archaic) Plainly; distinctly.
    • Tell me plain: do you love me or no?

Noun (1)

plain (plural plains)

  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.1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
    • For Plato the life of the philosopher is a life of struggle towards the goal of knowledge, towards “searching the heavens and measuring the plains, in all places seeking the nature of everything as a whole”1961, J. A. Philip. Mimesis in the Sophistês of Plato. In: Proceedings and Transactions of the American Philological Association 92. p. 467.
  2. 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.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto IX”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC
  3. (archaic) Synonym of field in reference to a battlefield.
    • 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 Nawab1899, Alexander John Arbuthnot, Lord Clive: The Foundation of British Rule in India
    • Lead forth my soldiers to the plain.c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
    Synonyms:
    field in reference to a battlefield

Verb (1)

plain (third-person singular simple present plains, present participle plaining, simple past and past participle plained)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To level; to raze; to make plain or even on the surface.
    • Frownst thou thereat aspiring Lancaster,
      The sworde shall plane the furrowes of thy browes,1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell, […], published 1622, →OCLC...
    • We would rake Europe rather, plain the East;1612, George Wither, Prince Henrie’s Obsequies, Elegy 24, in Egerton Brydges (editor), Restituta, Volume I, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1814, p. 399, Though kept by Rome’s and...
  2. (obsolete, transitive) To make plain or manifest; to explain.
    • What’s dumb in show, I’ll plain with speech.c. 1607–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, [George Wilkins?], The Late, and Much Admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: […] [William White and Thomas Creede] for Henry...

Noun (2)

plain (plural plains)

  1. (poetic, rare) A lamentation.
    • The warrior-threat, the infant's plain,
      The mother's screams, were heard in vain;1815, Sir Walter Scott, The Lady of the Isles, Canto IV, part IX

Verb (2)

plain (third-person singular simple present plains, present participle plaining, simple past and past participle plained)

  1. (obsolete, reflexive) To complain.
    • Persones and parisch prestes · pleyned hem to þe bischop / Þat here parisshes were pore · sith þe pestilence tyme […].c. 1378-9, [William Langland], “[Prologue]”, in The Vision of Pierce Plowman [...] (Cr, B-text), London: […] Roberte Crowley, […], published 1550, →OCLC
  2. (ambitransitive, archaic, poetic) To lament, bewail.
    • to plain a loss
    • Shepheards, that wont[…]
      Oft times to plaine your loves concealed smart1595, Ed. Spencer [i.e., Edmund Spenser], “Astrophel. A Pastoral Elegie vpon the Death of the Most Noble and Valorous Knight, Sir Philip Sidney.”, in Colin Clouts Come Home Againe, London: […]...

Adjective (2)

plain (comparative plainer, superlative plainest)

  1. (obsolete) Full, complete in number or extent.

Proper noun capitalized: Plain

Plain (plural Plains)

  1. A surname.

Also used as

plain is also the alternative spelling of plane.

plain meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

plain in Hindi

adverb
बस bas
an expanse of land with relatively low relief
मैदान maidān

plain in Tamil

adverb
சும்மா cummā

plain in Urdu

an expanse of land with relatively low relief
دَشْت daśt, مَیدان maidān

plain in Bengali

an expanse of land with relatively low relief
সমভূমি śombhumi
More languagesFewer languages
plain in Telugu
బయలు bayalu
plain in Gujarati
સાદો
plain in Odia
ସାଦାମାଟା
plain in Sanskrit
अज्र ajra
plain in Pashto
جلګه, شاګۍ šāgǝ́y, هواره hawāra
plain in Tagalog
payak, pangkaraniwan, simple, liso
plain in Arabic
بَسِيط basīṭ, سَهْل sahl
plain in Malay
dataran
plain in Indonesian
dataran
plain in Thai
ธรรมดา tam-má-daa, งั้น ๆ ngán-ngán, ที่ราบ tîi-râap
plain in Vietnamese
đơn thuần, đồng bằng, bình nguyên
plain in Myanmar
မြေပြန့် mre-pran.

Examples of plain in a sentence

  • an honest mind, and plain, he must speak truthc. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First...
  • Then came I crying, and to-day, / With heavier cause to plain, / Depart I into death away, / Not to be born again.1936, Alfred Edward Housman, More Poems, "XXV", lines 5–9

All 40 example sentences with plain

Synonyms of plain

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

10 more antonymsFewer antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of plain

Forms of plain

Adjective
comparativeplainer
superlativeplainest
alternative form (obsolete)plaine
Noun
pluralplains
alternative formplein
Verb
third-person singular presentplains
present participleplaining
past participleplained
pastplained
Proper noun
pluralPlains

Plural of plain: plains

Origin of plain

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, plane, and plan.

From Old French plain, from Latin plānum (“level ground, a plain”), neuter substantive from plānus (“level, even, flat”). Doublet of llano, piano, and plane.

From Anglo-Norman plainer, pleiner, variant of Anglo-Norman and Old French pleindre, plaindre, from Latin plangere.

Words formed from plain

Phrases with plain

69 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with plain

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about plain

What does plain mean?
Plain means flat, level.
What is plain in Hindi?
Plain in Hindi is बस (bas), मैदान (maidān). See Plain meaning in Hindi.
How do you use plain in a sentence?
an honest mind, and plain, he must speak truth
What part of speech is plain?
Plain can be an adjective, an adverb, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce plain?
Plain is pronounced /pleɪn/ (UK).

Words near plain in the dictionary

  1. plaidoyers
  2. plaids
  3. plaier
  4. plaigarism
  5. plaigiarism
  6. plain
  7. plain and simple
  8. plain as a haystack
  9. plain as a pikestaff
  10. plain as day
  11. plain as Dunstable highway

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: plain (page history and authors); Plain (page history and authors); plain (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); plain (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-plain.ogg.

Cite this entry: “plain.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/plain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.