plain-sailing
Syllables: plain-sail·ingUK/ˌpleɪn ˈseɪlɪŋ/
plain-sailing adjective: easy, simple, straightforward.
Adjective
plain-sailing (not comparable)
- Easy, simple, straightforward.
- […] I took an uncommon fancy to him. He's a straightforward, plain-sailing fellow. I shall be very glad to see him again.1873, Louisa Parr, “Rays of Hope”, in Hero Carthew or The Prescotts of Pamphillon […] (Leisure Hour Series), New York, N.Y.: Holt & Williams, →OCLC, page 91
- [W]hat was the mainspring of her mind—round what axis did it revolve—that was what puzzled him. Clearly enough it was not like most women's, least of all like that of happy, healthy, plain-sailing Bessie.1887, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “Bessie is asked in Marriage”, in Jess, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 31
- Synonyms:
- as a duck takes to water, basic, easy, prosaic, no-fuss, easy as 123, easy as ABC, easy as cake, easy as pie, easy as falling off a log
Synonyms of plain-sailing
- as a duck takes to water
- basic
- easy
- prosaic
- no-fuss
- easy as 123
- easy as ABC
- easy as cake
- easy as pie
- easy as falling off a log
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- easy as rolling off a log
- easy as toffee
- easy-breezy
- easy peasy
- easy peasy Japanesey
- easy peasy lemon squeezy
- eath
- effortless
- facile
- idiotproof
- light
- like a duck takes to water
- like falling off a log
- like riding a bike
- like robbing a baby
- like shelling peas
- like shooting fish in a barrel
- like taking candy from a baby
- natural
- painless
- piss-easy
- simple
- simple as kiss your hand
- simplex
- smooth
- soft
- straightforward
- trivial
- troublefree
- unchallenging
Origin of plain-sailing
From plain (adjective) + sailing. Sense 2 of plain sailing (“something that is easy, simple, or straightforward”, noun) is attested slightly later than the adjective, and so could have been derived from it.
Words formed from plain-sailing
Words that rhyme with plain-sailing
Questions about plain-sailing
- What does plain-sailing mean?
- Plain-sailing means easy, simple, straightforward.
- What part of speech is plain-sailing?
- Plain-sailing is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce plain-sailing?
- Plain-sailing is pronounced /ˌpleɪn ˈseɪlɪŋ/ (UK).
Words near plain-sailing in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: plain-sailing (page history and authors). 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:
Cite this entry: “plain-sailing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/plain-sailing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.