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PLAIN
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A basic knitting stitch made by putting the needle through the front of the stitch from the lefthand side
Synonyms:
knit; knit stitch; plain; plain stitch
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("plain" is a kind of...):
knitting stitch (a stitch taken in knitting)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Extensive tract of level open land
Example:
he longed for the fields of his youth
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)
Hypernyms ("plain" is a kind of...):
dry land; earth; ground; land; solid ground; terra firma (the solid part of the earth's surface)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "plain"):
tundra (a vast treeless plain in the Arctic regions where the subsoil is permanently frozen)
steppe (extensive plain without trees (associated with eastern Russia and Siberia))
snowfield (a permanent wide expanse of snow)
flat (a level tract of land)
flood plain; floodplain (a low plain adjacent to a river that is formed chiefly of river sediment and is subject to flooding)
llano (an extensive grassy and nearly treeless plain (especially in Latin America))
moor; moorland (open land usually with peaty soil covered with heather and bracken and moss)
peneplain; peneplane (a more or less level land surface representing an advanced stage of erosion undisturbed by crustal movements)
Instance hyponyms:
Serengeti; Serengeti Plain (a vast plain in Tanzania to the west of the Great Rift Valley known for its wildlife)
Nullarbor Plain (a vast arid plain of southern Australia stretching inland from the Great Australian Bight; has sparse vegetation and no surface water and is almost uninhabited; the site of a major rocket research center)
Olympia (a plain in Greece in the northwestern Peloponnese; the chief sanctuary of Zeus and the site of the original Olympian Games)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Lacking embellishment or ornamentation
Example:
functional architecture featuring stark unornamented concrete
Synonyms:
bare; plain; spare; unembellished; unornamented
Classified under:
Similar:
unadorned; undecorated (not decorated with something to increase its beauty or distinction)
Derivation:
plainness (the appearance of being plain and unpretentious)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Lacking in physical beauty or proportion
Example:
a plain girl with a freckled face
Synonyms:
homely; plain
Classified under:
Similar:
unattractive (lacking beauty or charm)
Derivation:
plainness (an appearance that is not attractive or beautiful)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Free from any effort to soften to disguise
Example:
the unvarnished candor of old people and children
Synonyms:
plain; unvarnished
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
direct (straightforward in means or manner or behavior or language or action)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment
Example:
a palpable lie
Synonyms:
apparent; evident; manifest; palpable; patent; plain; unmistakable
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
obvious (easily perceived by the senses or grasped by the mind)
Derivation:
plainness (clarity as a consequence of being perspicuous)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Lacking patterns especially in color
Synonyms:
plain; unpatterned
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
solid-colored; solid-coloured (having the same color all over)
Antonym:
patterned (having patterns (especially colorful patterns))
Sense 6
Meaning:
Not elaborate or elaborated; simple
Example:
a plain rectangular brick building
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
vanilla (plain and without any extras or adornments)
tailored; trim (severely simple in line or design)
simple (unornamented)
literal (avoiding embellishment or exaggeration (used for emphasis))
inelaborate; unelaborate (not elaborate; lacking rich or complex detail)
homely (plain and unpretentious)
featureless (lacking distinguishing characteristics or features)
dry (having no adornment or coloration)
dry ((of food) eaten without a spread or sauce or other garnish)
chaste (pure and simple in design or style)
bare; mere; simple (apart from anything else; without additions or modifications)
austere; severe; stark; stern (severely simple)
Also:
unadorned; undecorated (not decorated with something to increase its beauty or distinction)
unpretentious (lacking pretension or affectation)
unrhetorical (not rhetorical)
simple (having few parts; not complex or complicated or involved)
Antonym:
fancy (not plain; decorative or ornamented)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Not mixed with extraneous elements
Example:
not an unmixed blessing
Synonyms:
plain; sheer; unmingled; unmixed
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
pure (free of extraneous elements of any kind)
Derivation:
plainness (the state of being unmixed with other material)
III. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness
Example:
She has a lot to kick about
Synonyms:
complain; kick; kvetch; plain; quetch; sound off
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "plain"):
bleat (talk whiningly)
report (complain about; make a charge against)
bemoan; bewail; deplore; lament (regret strongly)
inveigh; rail (complain bitterly)
beef; bellyache; bitch; crab; gripe; grouse; holler; squawk (complain)
repine (express discontent)
protest (utter words of protest)
grouch; grumble; scold (show one's unhappiness or critical attitude)
croak; gnarl; grumble; murmur; mutter (make complaining remarks or noises under one's breath)
grizzle; whine; yammer; yawp (complain whiningly)
backbite; bitch (say mean things)
hen-peck; nag; peck (bother persistently with trivial complaints)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
IV. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Unmistakably ('plain' is often used informally for 'plainly')
Example:
he is plain stubborn
Synonyms:
apparently; evidently; manifestly; obviously; patently; plain; plainly
Classified under:
Domain usage:
colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)
Context examples:
I tell you them moments was plain hell.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
The oval seal is undoubtedly a plain sleeve-link—what else is of such a shape?
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Let things be plat and plain between us.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I seen the doctor waving you to run for it—with the tail of my eye, I did; and I seen you say no, as plain as hearing.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
His speech was clear and plain, with none of those strange London ways which had so amazed me.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Its hills are covered with vines, and its cottages are scattered thickly in the plains.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
It may seem strange that salt can make the ocean denser, but you can see for yourself how this works by adding plain old table salt to a glass of water.
(Ganymede may harbor 'club sandwich' of oceans and ice, NASA)
The targeted supermassive black hole is hidden in plain sight, lurking in the center of the Milky Way in a region called the Sagittarius constellation, some 26,000 light years from Earth.
(Astronomers Piece Together First Image of Black Hole, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
The clothes and food of the children are plain and simple.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
Emma took the opportunity of whispering, You speak too plain.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
