plain

US: /ˈpɫeɪn/
UK: /plˈe‍ɪn/


English Vietnamese dictionary


plain /plein/
  • danh từ
    • đồng bằng
    • tính từ
      • rõ ràng, rõ rệt
        • [as] plain as a pikestaff; as plain as daylight: rõ rành rành, rõ như ban ngày
        • to make something plain to someone: làm cho ai hiểu rõ điều gì
      • đơn giản, dễ hiểu
        • plain words: lời lẽ đơn giản dễ hiểu
        • plain style: văn giản dị
      • không viết bằng mật mã (điện tín...)
      • giản dị, thường; đơn sơ
        • plain food: thức ăn giản dị (thường)
        • a plain cook: một người đầu bếp thường (chỉ làm được những bữa ăn thường)
        • plain living and high thingking: cuộc sống thanh bạch nhưng cao thượng
        • plain furniture: bàn ghế đơn sơ giản dị
      • mộc mạc, chất phác, ngay thẳng; thẳng thắn
        • a plain man: một người mộc mạc chất phác
        • to be plain in one's criticism: thẳng thắn trong cách phê bình
        • plain answer: câu trả lời thẳng thắn
      • trơn, một màu
        • a dress of plain material: một ái dài bằng vải trơn
      • xấu, thô (cô gái...)
      • phó từ
        • rõ ràng
          • to speak (write) plain: nói (viết) rõ ràng
      • nội động từ
        • (từ cổ,nghĩa cổ), (thơ ca) than khóc, than van

      Advanced English dictionary


      adjective, noun, adverb
      + adjective (plainer, plainest)
      1 easy to see or understand: He made it plain that we should leave. + She made her annoyance plain. + The facts were plain to see.
      2 not trying to trick anyone; honest and direct: The plain fact is that nobody really knows. + a politician with a reputation for plain speaking + (especially AmE) a plain, straightforward sort of man
      3 not decorated or complicated; simple: a plain but elegant dress + plain food / cooking + The interior of the church was plain and simple. + plain yogurt (= without sugar or fruit)
      Compare: FANCY
      4 without marks or a pattern on it: covers in plain or printed cotton + Write on plain paper (= without lines).
      5 [only before noun] used to emphasize that sth is very ordinary, not special in any way: You don't need any special skills for this job, just plain common sense.
      6 (especially of a woman) not beautiful or attractive
      plainness noun [U]
      Idioms: be plain sailing (AmE also clear sailing) to be simple and free from trouble
      in plain English simply and clearly expressed, without using technical language: a document written in plain English + If you could put it in plain English I might be able to understand.
      (as) plain as a pikestaff
      (as) plain as day
      (as) plain as the nose on your face very obvious
      + noun (also plains [pl.]) a large area of flat land: the flat coastal plain of Thassos + the Great Plains
      + adverb (informal) used to emphasize how bad, stupid, etc. sth is: plain stupid / wrong

      Thesaurus dictionary


      adj.
      1 flat, smooth, even, featureless, level, plane:
      I'd rather have a paper with a plain surface, not an embossed one, for the bedroom walls
      2 clear, evident, simple, distinct, crystal clear, lucid, vivid, transparent, apparent, obvious, patent, self-evident, manifest, distinct, unmistakable or unmistakeable, unequivocal, unambiguous, understandable, intelligible, graphic, direct, in black and white:
      His intentions regarding my daughter are plain enough. The plain fact is that she despises him
      3 open, honest, straightforward, forthright, direct, frank, candid, blunt, outspoken, ingenuous, sincere, guileless, artless, unreserved:
      I want to see some plain talk between the two of us.
      4 simple, unadorned, undecorated, unembellished, basic, austere, stark, unostentatious, colourless, drab, bare, unvarnished, Spartan:
      Don't you find the average business suit a very plain affair?
      5 homely, unattractive, ordinary-looking, unlovely, ugly:
      Who would believe that such a plain child could become such a beautiful woman?
      n.
      6 prairie, grassland, pasture, meadow-land, veld or veldt, pampas, campo, llano, savannah or savanna, steppe, tundra, champaign or campagna; heath; moor, moorland; plateau, flatland; down, downland, Literary wold, Archaic or literary mead:
      The plain stretched out before us as far as the eye could see.

      Collocation dictionary


      ADJ.

      open
      The horses galloped across the open plains.
      | rolling, sweeping
      miles of rolling plain, made fertile by the river
      | great, unbroken, vast | flat | fertile
      fertile plains suitable for farming
      | grassy | coastal

      PREP.

      across a/the ~
      Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.
      | in a/the ~
      the Olduvai Gorge in the vast plain of Tanzania
      | on a/the ~
      Nothing grew on the plain.

      1 simple/not decorated

      VERBS

      be, look, seem

      ADV.

      extremely, very | absolutely, completely
      The dress was absolutely plain, but quite stunning.
      | fairly, quite, rather
      The food was fairly plain, but well cooked.

      PHRASES

      plain blue, white, etc.
      a plain white shirt

      2 not beautiful

      VERBS

      be, look

      ADV.

      extremely, very
      She looked very plain and dowdy.
      | rather
      a rather plain woman

      3 clear

      VERBS

      be, seem | become | make sth
      They made it plain that they were against the idea.

      ADV.

      very | absolutely, perfectly, quite
      Within weeks, it became perfectly plain that we were in the grip of a tyrant.
      | increasingly | fairly, pretty, reasonably

      PREP.

      to
      It is all quite plain to me.


      Concise English dictionary


      plains|plainer|plainestpleɪn
      noun
      +extensive tract of level open land
      +a basic knitting stitch
      verb
      +express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness
      adj.
      +clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment
      +not elaborate or elaborated; simple
      +lacking patterns especially in color
      +not mixed with extraneous elements
      +free from any effort to soften to disguise
      +lacking embellishment or ornamentation
      +lacking in physical beauty or proportion
      adv.
      +unmistakably (`plain' is often used informally for `plainly')