Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun plain
2 senses of plain
Sense 1
plain, field, champaign -- (extensive tract of level open land; "they emerged from the woods onto a vast open plain"; "he longed for the fields of his youth")
=> land, dry land, earth, ground, solid ground, terra firma -- (the solid part of the earth's surface; "the plane turned away from the sea and moved back over land"; "the earth shook for several minutes"; "he dropped the logs on the ground")
Sense 2
knit, knit stitch, plain, plain stitch -- (a basic knitting stitch)
=> knitting stitch -- (a stitch taken in knitting)
Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of verb plain
1 sense of plain
Sense 1
complain, kick, plain, sound off, quetch, kvetch -- (express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness; "My mother complains all day"; "She has a lot to kick about")
Antonyms of adj plain
7 senses of plain
Sense 1
apparent, evident, manifest, patent, plain, unmistakable -- (clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment; "the effects of the drought are apparent to anyone who sees the parched fields"; "evident hostility"; "manifest disapproval"; "patent advantages"; "made his meaning plain"; "it is plain that he is no reactionary"; "in plain view")
INDIRECT (VIA obvious) -> unobvious -- (not immediately apparent; "in mathematical science connections are exhibited which...are extremely unobvious"- A.N.Whitehead)
Sense 2
plain (vs. fancy) -- (not elaborate or elaborated; simple; "plain food"; "stuck to the plain facts"; "a plain blue suit"; "a plain rectangular brick building")
fancy (vs. plain) -- (not plain; decorative or ornamented; "fancy handwriting"; "fancy clothes")
=> aureate, florid, flamboyant -- (elaborately or excessively ornamented; "flamboyant handwriting"; "the senator's florid speech")
=> baroque, churrigueresque, churrigueresco -- (having elaborate symmetrical ornamentation; "the building...frantically baroque"-William Dean Howells)
=> busy, fussy -- (overcrowded or cluttered with detail; "a busy painting"; "a fussy design")
=> dressy -- (in fancy clothing)
=> crackle -- (having the surface decorated with a network of fine cracks, as in crackleware; "a crackle glaze")
=> damascene -- ((of metals) decorated or inlaid with a wavy pattern of different (especially precious) metals; "a damascened sword")
=> damask -- (having a woven pattern; "damask table linens")
=> elaborate, luxuriant -- (marked by complexity and richness of detail; "an elaborate lace pattern")
=> embattled, battlemented, castled, castellated -- (having or resembling repeated square indentations like those in a battlement; "a crenelated molding")
=> fanciful -- (having a curiously intricate quality; "a fanciful pattern with intertwined vines and flowers")
=> fantastic -- (extravagantly fanciful in design, construction, appearance; "Gaudi's fantastic architecture")
=> lacy, lacelike -- (made of or resembling lace; "a lacy gown"; "a lacy leaf")
=> puff, puffed -- (gathered for protruding fullness; "puff sleeves")
=> rococo -- (having excessive asymmetrical ornamentation; "an exquisite gilded rococo mirror")
=> vermicular, vermiculate, vermiculated -- (decorated with wormlike tracery or markings; "vermicular (or vermiculated) stonework")
Sense 3
plain (vs. patterned), unpatterned -- (lacking patterns especially in color)
patterned (vs. plain) -- (having patterns (especially colorful patterns))
=> banded -- (marked with bands or strips of contrasting color or texture; "a banded rock")
=> black-and-tan -- (having a pattern of black and tan)
=> black-barred -- (having a pattern consisting of black bars)
=> black-marked -- (having black marks)
=> blotched, blotchy, splotched -- (marked with irregularly shaped spots or blots)
=> brindled, brindle, brinded, tabby -- (having a grey or brown streak or a pattern or a patchy coloring; used especially of the patterned fur of cats)
=> brown-speckled, brownish-speckled -- (having brown speckles)
=> brown-striped, brownish-striped -- (having brown stripes)
=> burled -- ((of wood) have a pattern from the grain of a tree burl)
=> checked, checkered, chequered -- (patterned with alternating squares of color)
=> cross-banded -- ((of snakes) having crossing bands on the back)
=> dappled, mottled -- (having spots or patches of color)
=> dark-spotted -- (having dark spots)
=> dotted, flecked, specked, speckled, stippled -- (having a pattern of dots)
=> figured -- ((of e.g. fabric design) adorned with patterns; "my dress is richly figured"- Amy Lowell)
=> floral, flowered -- (resembling or made of or suggestive of flowers; "an unusual floral design")
=> freckled, lentiginous, lentiginose -- (relating to or covered with or resembling freckles)
=> laced -- (edged or streaked with color; "white blossoms with purple-laced petals")
=> marbled, marbleized, marbleised -- (patterned with veins or streaks or color resembling marble; "marbleized pink skin")
=> maroon-spotted -- (having maroon spots)
=> moire, watered -- ((of silk fabric) having a wavelike pattern)
=> patched, spotty, spotted -- (having spots or patches (small areas of contrasting color or texture); "a field patched with ice and snow"; "the wall had a spotty speckled effect"; "a black-and-white spotted cow")
=> pointillist, pointillistic -- (of or relating to pointillism)
=> pinstriped -- (having very thin stripes)
=> purple-veined -- ((of flowers) showing purple markings that resemble veins)
=> purple-spotted -- (having purple spots)
=> red-striped, reddish-striped, red-streaked -- (having red stripes)
=> ringed -- (having colored rings around the body)
=> slashed -- (patterned by having color applied with sweeping strokes; "brown iris...slashed with yellow"- Willa Cather)
=> sprigged -- (decorated with designs of sprigs; "sprigged muslin")
=> streaked, streaky -- (marked with or as if with stripes or linear discolorations; "streaked hair"; "fat legs and dirty streaky faces")
=> striped, stripy -- (marked or decorated with stripes)
=> tessellated -- (having a checkered or mottled appearance)
=> tiger-striped -- (having stripes resembling those of a tiger)
=> veined, venose, veinlike -- (having or showing markings that resemble veins)
=> violet-streaked -- (having streaks of violet color)
=> white-blotched -- (having blotches of white)
=> white-ribbed -- (having white ribs)
=> white-streaked -- (having white streaks)
=> yellow-banded -- (having yellow bands)
=> yellow-marked -- (having yellow marks)
=> yellow-spotted -- (having yellow spots)
=> yellow-striped -- (having yellow stripes)
Sense 4
plain, sheer, unmingled, unmixed -- (not mixed with extraneous elements; "plain water"; "sheer wine"; "not an unmixed blessing")
INDIRECT (VIA pure) -> impure -- (combined with extraneous elements)
Sense 5
plain, unvarnished -- (free from any effort to soften to disguise; "the plain and unvarnished truth"; "the unvarnished candor of old people and children")
INDIRECT (VIA direct) -> indirect -- (extended senses; not direct in manner or language or behavior or action; "making indirect but legitimate inquiries"; "an indirect insult"; "doubtless they had some indirect purpose in mind"; "though his methods are indirect they are not dishonest"; "known as a shady indirect fellow")
Sense 6
plain, bare, spare, unembellished, unornamented -- (lacking embellishment or ornamentation; "a plain hair style"; "unembellished white walls"; "functional architecture featuring stark unornamented concrete")
INDIRECT (VIA unadorned) -> adorned, decorated -- (provided with something intended to increase its beauty or distinction)
Sense 7
homely, plain -- (lacking in physical beauty or proportion; "a homely child"; "several of the buildings were downright homely"; "a plain girl with a freckled face")
INDIRECT (VIA unattractive) -> attractive -- (pleasing to the eye or mind especially through beauty or charm; "a remarkably attractive young man"; "an attractive personality"; "attractive clothes"; "a book with attractive illustrations")
Similarity of adj plain
7 senses of plain
Sense 1
apparent, evident, manifest, patent, plain, unmistakable -- (clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment; "the effects of the drought are apparent to anyone who sees the parched fields"; "evident hostility"; "manifest disapproval"; "patent advantages"; "made his meaning plain"; "it is plain that he is no reactionary"; "in plain view")
=> obvious (vs. unobvious) -- (easily perceived by the senses or grasped by the mind; "obvious errors")
Sense 2
plain (vs. fancy) -- (not elaborate or elaborated; simple; "plain food"; "stuck to the plain facts"; "a plain blue suit"; "a plain rectangular brick building")
=> austere, severe, stark, stern -- (severely simple; "a stark interior")
=> bare (prenominal), mere (prenominal), simple (prenominal) -- (apart from anything else; without additions or modifications; "only the bare facts"; "shocked by the mere idea"; "the simple passage of time was enough"; "the simple truth")
=> chaste -- (pure and simple in design or style; "a chaste border of conventionalized flowers")
=> dry -- ((of food) eaten without a spread or sauce or other garnish; "dry toast"; "dry meat")
=> dry -- (having no adornment or coloration; "dry facts"; "rattled off the facts in a dry mechanical manner")
=> featureless -- (lacking distinguishing characteristics or features; "the featureless landscape of the steppe")
=> homely -- (plain and unpretentious; "homely truths"; "letters to his son full of homely advice"; "homely fare")
=> inelaborate, unelaborate -- (not elaborate; lacking rich or complex detail)
=> literal -- (avoiding embellishment or exaggeration (used for emphasis); "it's the literal truth")
=> simple -- (unornamented; "a simple country schoolhouse"; "her black dress--simple to austerity")
=> tailored, trim -- (severely simple in line or design; "a neat tailored suit"; "tailored curtains")
=> vanilla -- (plain and without any extras or adornments; "the most common type of bond is the straight or plain vanilla bond"; "the basic car is known as the vanilla version")
Also See-> simple#1; unadorned#1, undecorated#1; unrhetorical#1; unpretentious#1
Sense 3
plain (vs. patterned), unpatterned -- (lacking patterns especially in color)
=> solid-colored, solid-coloured -- (having the same color all over)
Sense 4
plain, sheer, unmingled, unmixed -- (not mixed with extraneous elements; "plain water"; "sheer wine"; "not an unmixed blessing")
=> pure (vs. impure) -- (free of extraneous elements of any kind; "pure air and water"; "pure gold"; "pure primary colors"; "the violin's pure and lovely song"; "pure tones"; "pure oxygen")
Sense 5
plain, unvarnished -- (free from any effort to soften to disguise; "the plain and unvarnished truth"; "the unvarnished candor of old people and children")
=> direct (vs. indirect) -- (straightforward in means or manner or behavior or language or action; "a direct question"; "a direct response"; "a direct approach")
Sense 6
plain, bare, spare, unembellished, unornamented -- (lacking embellishment or ornamentation; "a plain hair style"; "unembellished white walls"; "functional architecture featuring stark unornamented concrete")
=> unadorned (vs. adorned), undecorated -- (not decorated with something to increase its beauty or distinction)
Sense 7
homely, plain -- (lacking in physical beauty or proportion; "a homely child"; "several of the buildings were downright homely"; "a plain girl with a freckled face")
=> unattractive (vs. attractive) -- (lacking beauty or charm; "as unattractive as most mining regions")
Synonyms of adv plain
1 sense of plain
Sense 1
obviously, evidently, manifestly, patently, apparently, plainly, plain -- (unmistakably (`plain' is often used informally for `plainly'); "the answer is obviously wrong"; "she was in bed and evidently in great pain"; "he was manifestly too important to leave off the guest list"; "it is all patently nonsense"; "she has apparently been living here for some time"; "I thought he owned the property, but apparently not"; "You are plainly wrong"; "he is plain stubborn")
