simpler
/ˈsɪm.pəl.ə/US/ˈsɪm.pəl.ɚ/
simpler is the comparative form of simple.
Meaning of simple
Adjective
simple (comparative simpler or more simple, superlative simplest or most simple)
- Uncomplicated; lacking complexity; taken by itself, with nothing added.
- We are engaged in a great work, a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic?1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC
- Antonyms:
- subtle
- Easy; not difficult.
- There is no simple way to define precisely a complex arrangement of parts, however homely the object may appear to be.2001, Sydney I. Landau, Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 167
- Synonyms:
- basic, trivial, as a duck takes to water, easy, prosaic, no-fuss, easy as 123, easy as ABC, easy as cake, easy as pie
- Without ornamentation; plain.
- Free from duplicity; guileless, innocent, straightforward.
- Full many fine men go upon my score, as simple as I stand here, and I trust them.1605, Iohn Marston [i.e., John Marston], The Dutch Courtezan. […], London: […] T[homas] P[urfoot] for Iohn Hodgets, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page)
- Synonyms:
- sincere, unaffected, earnest, fair dinkum, forthright, downright, upfront, foursquare, frank, genuine
- Undistinguished in social condition; of no special rank.
- Garak: Who would want to kill me, a simple tailor? / Odo: A simple tailor? A simple tailor who used to be an agent of the Obsidian Order!1995 April 24, Improbable Cause (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), season 3, number 20 (Science Fiction), Paramount Domestic Television, →OCLC
- Trivial; insignificant.
- ‘That was a symple cause,’ seyde Sir Trystram, ‘for to sle a good knyght for seyynge well by his maystir.’1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum LV”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book X (in Middle English), [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich]...
- Synonyms:
- inconsequential, base, contemptible, floccinaucinihilipilificatious, foolish, for the birds, futile, frivolous, idle, ignorable
- Antonyms:
- significant, big, central, consequential, critical, crucial, epochful, essential, extraordinary, fateful
Noun
simpler (plural simplers)
- One who grows or gathers simples (medicinal herbs).
- One of the great pleasures in botany is, to produce a rather uncommon plant to those who know it to be curious; but the English botanist will not have much satisfaction in shewing it to a simpler, who is not acquainted with it under the name given by Gerard or Ray.1781, Daines Barrington, Miscellanies, Essay VII, On the Linnæan System, page 273
- … may with no great impropriety be termed going a simpling; but with this special difference, that your field simpler never picks up a nettle for a marsh-mallow; a mistake which your tour simpler is very liable to.1833, William Hogarth, Anecdotes of William Hogarth: written by himself, page 48
- Synonyms:
- simplist
Proper noun capitalized: Simpler
Simpler (plural Simplers)
- A surname from German.
Synonyms of simpler
Forms of simpler
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | simplers |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Simplers |
Origin of simpler
Probably an altered form of German Simperl or Semperl.
Phrases with simpler
Questions about simpler
- What does simpler mean?
- Simpler means one who grows or gathers simples (medicinal herbs).
- What is simpler the comparative form of?
- Simpler is the comparative form of simple.
- What part of speech is simpler?
- Simpler can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce simpler?
- Simpler is pronounced /ˈsɪm.pəl.ə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of simpler?
- The plural of simpler is simplers.
Words near simpler in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: simpler (page history and authors); Simpler (page history and authors); simple (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.
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Cite this entry: “simpler.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/simpler. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
