Link Centre Dictionary

plainly

UK/ˈpleɪnli/ US/ˈpleɪnli/ uncommon

adverb

1.

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”
2.

in a simple manner; without extravagance or embellishment

  • “she was dressed plainly”
  • “they lived very simply”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English playnly, pleinly, pleyneliche, equivalent to plain + -ly.

Related words

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.