| 释义 |
adjective | noun | adverb plainplain1 /pleɪn/ ●●● S3 adjective ETYMOLOGYplain1Origin: 1200-1300 Old French Latin planus flat, level, clear ► made it plain that From the first day I met her, Caroline made it plain that (=showed clearly) she didn’t like me. ► in plain English Why don’t you just say it in plain English (=without using technical or difficult words)? ► plain and simple This is harassment, plain and simple. ► plain old I just had plain old spaghetti. ► the plain truth I’ve never seen her before in my life, and that’s the plain truth. THESAURUSeasy to understand► clear expressed in a simple and direct way so that people understand: The game comes with clear instructions. The test questions weren’t very clear. ► plain simple, clear, direct, and easy to understand: She told him in plain language to sign the contract or leave. ► unambiguous formal completely clear because of having only one possible meaning: His refusal to help was unambiguous. ► explicit formal very clearly said or written and including every detail: She gave us explicit instructions about what to do in an emergency. ► understandable possible for people to understand: Business letters need to be written in a way that is understandable so that people do not do the wrong thing. extremely unattractive, and not nice to look at► uglyextremely unattractive, and not nice to look at: Lots of women think John is attractive, but I think he’s ugly. The offices are in the ugliest building in the city. ► unattractive not nice to look at: The concrete building is very unattractive. ► plain not very beautiful or attractive. Used about women or girls: When she was younger, people used to say she was plain, but look at her now – she’s gorgeous. ► homely unattractive or ugly. Used about people: He was a homely but extremely intelligent man. ► unsightly formal an unsightly mark, building, etc. is not pleasing to look at: The illness can cause unsightly marks on the skin. ► hideous extremely ugly in a way that is frightening: The monster had the kind of hideous face that gives children bad dreams. ► grotesque extremely ugly in a way that makes you feel sick: The movie was full of grotesque violence and bloody battles. 1 CLEAR very clear, and easy to understand or recognize: it is plain that It was plain that Max didn’t agree. From the first day I met her, Caroline made it plain that (=showed clearly) she didn’t like me. Why don’t you just say it in plain English (=without using technical or difficult words)? This is harassment, plain and simple.► see thesaurus at clear12SIMPLE without anything added or without decoration SYN simple: a plain blue suit plain vanilla ice cream I just had plain old spaghetti.3HONEST showing clearly and honestly what you think about something, without trying to hide anything: I’ve never seen her before in my life, and that’s the plain truth.4NOT BEAUTIFUL not beautiful or particularly attractive
► see thesaurus at ugly → see also plain Jane5as plain as day (also as plain as the nose on your face) very clear to see or understand: Phil loves her – that’s as plain as day.6(just) plain... spoken a)used before a noun to emphasize it: There’s no other word for it. It’s just plain mismanagement. b)used before someone’s name to emphasize that it is simple or ordinary or that he or she does not have a special title: No, it’s not “Doctor Delaney” – it’s just plain Mr. Delaney. → see also plain37in plain sight if something is in plain sight, it is very easy to see or notice, especially when it should be hidden: They left the drugs lying around in plain sight.8in plain clothes police officers in plain clothes are wearing regular clothes instead of a uniform—plainness noun [uncountable] → see also plain-clothes, plainly adjective | noun | adverb plainplain2 ●●○ noun 1[countable] (also plains) earth science, geography a large area of flat dry land: the plains of Nebraska2[uncountable] the ordinary stitch in knitting (knit) adjective | noun | adverb plainplain3 adverb (just) plain... informal used before an adjective in order to emphasize it: Jason’s just plain lucky he wasn’t hurt. → see also plainly |