Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use plain in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, adverb, noun

Plain means flat, level. Example: “He was dressed simply in plain black clothes.”

Examples of plain by meaning

adjectiveOrdinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation; unembellished.

  • He was dressed simply in plain black clothes.
  • a plain tune

adjectiveOf just one colour; lacking a pattern.

  • a plain pink polycotton skirt

adjectiveSimple in habits or qualities; unsophisticated, not exceptional, ordinary.

  • They're just plain people like you or me.

adjectiveHaving 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?

adjectiveDownright; total, unmistakable (as intensifier).

  • His answer was just plain nonsense.

adjectiveHonest and without deception; candid, open; blunt.

  • Let me be plain with you: I don't like her.

adjectiveNot unusually beautiful; unattractive.

  • Throughout high school she worried that she had a rather plain face.
  • 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

adverbSimply.

  • It was just plain stupid.
  • I plain forgot.

More sentences with plain

  • After we left the forest, the country opened into a wide, flat plain.From the entry open
  • Vines wind round a pole. The river winds through the plain.From the entry wind
  • You can have plain green beans, or gussie them up with a bit of cheese and onion.From the entry gussy up
  • When I'm thirsty I drink squash; it tastes much nicer than plain water.From the entry squash
  • The diners were disappointed with the plain, insipid soup they were served.From the entry insipid
  • Many groups had migrated to western Europe from the plains of eastern Europe.From the entry migrate
  • The editor ornamented his plain writing, making it fancier but less clear.From the entry ornament
  • In plain view of the entire party, Douggie and his buddies skinned up and started getting high.From the entry skin up
  • I made a mistake and bought plain digestives instead of chocolate ones.From the entry digestive
  • Her plain white dress was set off by a bright red stole.From the entry set off
  • Toss me a ream of that plain paper, please. The printer is empty again.From the entry plain paper
  • At one time were bison on the American plains not merely abundant but superabundant: they seemed inexhaustible.From the entry superabundant
  • I don't care what he calls it. What he's doing is theft, plain and simple.From the entry plain and simple
  • Vahag lives on the Ararat plain, where it is very hot in summers and cold in winters.From the entry Ararat plain
  • I wish these lawyers would give us a plain English summary of their dense legalese.From the entry plain English
  • The living room is a bit plain, but it’s very zhuzhable.From the entry zhuzhable
  • The plain was skirted by rows of trees.From the entry skirt
  • The land alternates between rocky hills and sandy plains.From the entry alternate
  • Plain crosses are preferred by Protestants, but crucifixes by Catholics.From the entry crucifix
  • The horses carried the packs across the plain.From the entry pack
  • They came on horseback across the plains.From the entry horseback
  • For handwritten work Freda preferred lined paper to plain.From the entry lined
  • Using the sophisticated code was useless since the spy merely stole the plain text from the waste basket.From the entry plain text
  • A quarter peal of plain bob doubles was rung.From the entry doubles
  • A pipe with one belled and one plain end.From the entry belled
  • A quarter peal of plain bob triples was rung.From the entry triples
  • A quarter peal of plain bob caters was rung.From the entry caters
  • The sandwich was plain old junk food, nothing special.From the entry nothing special
  • He ate chicken dopiaza with plain rice and a nan.From the entry dopiaza

Meaning of plain

  1. adjective Flat, level.
  2. adjective Ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation; unembellished.
  3. adjective Of just one colour; lacking a pattern.

Full definition of plain

Questions about plain in a sentence

How do you use plain in a sentence?
Plain is used as an adjective, adverb and noun. For example: “He was dressed simply in plain black clothes.”
What is a short sentence with plain?
“I plain forgot.”
What does plain mean?
Plain means flat, level.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: plain (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use plain in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/plain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.