Plainly

Definition: Plainly

Plainly

Adverb

1. Unmistakably; "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"; (`plain' is often used informally for `plainly' as in "he is plain stubborn").

2. In a simple manner; without extravagance or embellishment; "she was dressed plainly"; "they lived very simply".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "plainly" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1050. (references)

Synonyms: Plainly

Information

Give a bit of one's mind; tell one plainly, tell once for all; speak volumes.

Crosswords: Plainly

Then speak it plainly, if you will (Seven Days in May; writing credit: Fletcher Knebel; Charles W. Bailey II)

Then I know that you will plainly see ("Act Naturally"; performing artist: The Beatles)

And now at last we plainly see (Black and White; performing artist: Three Dog Night)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• Evidences Of The Christian Religion Briefly & Plainly Stated (The Works Of James Beattie) (reference)

• Prayers Plainly Spoken (reference)

• Tales Plainly Told: The Eyewitness Narratives of Hemingway and Homer (Studies in English and American Literature, Linguistics, and Culture, Vol 7) (reference)

• The Evidences of the Christian Religion: Briefly and Plainly Stated (reference)

  (more book examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Plainly posted. Credit: Library of Congress.

Everything's coming up roses -- as any fool can plainly see!. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

And thus in Israel itself, the chief business of their judges, and first kings, seems to have been to be captains in war, and leaders of their armies; which (besides what is signified by going out and in before the people, which was, to march forth to war, and home again in the heads of their forces) appears plainly in the story of lephtha. (Second Treatise of Government)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Children, I say plainly, "watch out for the baobabs!

You might not see one in a hundred with gentleman so plainly written as in Mr. Knightley

He was not quite clear whether it was a compliment or not, to express it so plainly.

She could see as plainly as in broad day.

An honest tale speeds best being plainly told

Here I put in my canoe, and climbing up a part of the rock, I could plainly discover land to the east, extending from south to north

He could hear me when I moved and cronched the snow with my feet, but could not plainly see me.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

They range in size from those plainly visible to the naked eye to those several hundredths-of-an-inch long and visible only under a microscope. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Albanian

thjesht (but, merely, open and shut, plain, purely, simply, without ceremony), sheshit (clearly), qartë (clear, clearly, distinctly, evidently, expressly, fairly, it is clear, lucid, neatly, obviously, palpably, patently, plain, precisely, visibly), hapur (extrovert, openly, publicly, unreservedly). (various references)

Arabic 

‏بوضوح (apparently, clear, clearly, distinctly, evidently, fairly, obviously, overtly, patently, plain, pointedly, sharply, simply, visibly), ‏بصراحة (barely, blankly, downright, flat, freely, honestly, on the level, outright, overtly, plain, plump, point blank, unreservedly), ‏بدون لف ودوران. (various references)

Bulgarian 

обикновено (as a general rule, as a rule, commonly, generally, habitually, mostly, normally, ordinarily, usually), понятно (clearly, of course). (various references)

Chinese 

简单地 (simply), 明明 (obviously, undoubtedly). (various references)

Czech

prostì (commonly, in sum, just), jednoduše, jasnì (brightly, clear, clearly, quite so). (various references)

Finnish

yksinkertaisesti (simply). (various references)

French

sobrement, simplement, sans détours, franchement (plain), clairement (plain). (various references)

German

schlechthin (as such, per se, quite), offensichtlich (apparent, apparently, blatant, blatantly, conspicuous, demonstrable, evident, evidently, manifest, manifestly, obvious, obviously, palpable, patent, self evident, transparently), offen (ajar, apertured, blatantly, candid, candidly, clear, direct, exposed, fair, forthright, frank, frankly, free spoken, ingenuous, ingenuously, loose, low, naked, open, open-hearted, openly, outright, outspoken, outstanding, overt, overtly, pitched, raw, sincere, sincerely, straightforward, unconcealed, undecided, undetermined, undone, unfilled, unharbored, unhidden, unreservedly, unrestrained, unsealed, unsettled, upfront, vacant), klipp und klar (clearly, frankly, openly), klar (articulate, articulative, bold, clean, clean-cut, clear, clearly, crisp, definite, distinct, distinctly, evident, explicitly, fair, intelligibly, limpid, lucid, lucidly, manifest, obvious, perspicacious, perspicuous, perspicuously, plain, precise, rather, ready, sure, transparent, unclouded, understood, unobscured, white, yeah), einfache (simplemindedly), einfach (easily, easy, elemental, elementary, facile, frugal, homely, homespun, humble, humbly, just, no-frills, one way, ordinary, plain, quiet, rude, simple, simpleminded, simply, single, single entry, straightforward, uncluttered, uncomplex, uncomplicated, unit, unpretentious, unpretentiously, unsophisticated), eindeutig (absolutely, clear, clear cut, clearly, conclusive, conclusively, definite, definitely, explicit, manifest, manifestly, non-ambiguous, obvious, palpably, positively, sure, unambiguous, unambiguously, unequivocal, unequivocally, unique), direkt (blunt, bluntly, clear, direct, directly, due, forthright, immediate, immediately, immediatly, lineal, live, one-level, outspoken, outspokenly, perfect, plain, plump, randomly, really, right, sheer, slap, squarely, straigh ahead, straight, straightly, unbroken, undeviating), deutlich (appreciable, articulate, articulately, bold, broad, broadly, clear, clearly, conspicuous, decided, distinct, distinct (from), distinctly, explicit, explicitly, flat, lucid, manifest, marked, notedly, noticeable, noticeably, obvious, perceptible, perspicuous, plain, pronounced). (various references)

Greek 

σαφώσ (clearly), ξάστερα (outright), ευκρινώσ (succinctly), απλώσ (just, merely, rustically, simply). (various references)

Hungarian

világosan (clear, clearly, distinctly, explicitly, fairly, legibly, light, lucidly, palpably, plain, simply, to enlighten sy as to sg, to enlighten sy on a subject). (various references)

Indonesian

dengan sederhana. (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

明白 (frankly, obvious, overt), きか�"気 (accurately, brisk, clearly, close, creak, daring, distinctly, energetic, exactly, intense, lively, perfectly, precisely, squeak, tight, tightly, unyielding), まくり上�'る (clearly, confused, Never!, to abash, to be confused, to be flustered, to tuck, vividly, You don't say!), はち切れる (bluff, clearly, Dear me!, distinctly, Good gracious!, taken aback, to be filled to bursting, to burst). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

きっぱり (clearly, distinctly), まざまざと (clearly, vividly), あからさま (frankly, obvious, overt), めいはく (frankly, obvious, overt), はっきり (clearly, distinctly). (various references)

Korean 

보통� �으로 (usually). (various references)

Pig Latin

ainlyplay.(various references)

Portuguese

sinceramente (faithfully, heartily, like a shot, sincerely, truly), simplesmente (clean, merely, purely, simply), nitidamente (clean, flat, neatly, pointedly, positively, sharply), manifestamente (apparently, avowedly, clean, clear, clearly, distinctly, glaringly, overtly), francamente (broad, downright, flat, forthright, freely, loosely, plain, sincerely), despretensiosamente (clean), claramente (clean, clear, clearly, expressly, plain, pointedly, roundly, sure). (various references)

Romanian

sincer (above board, artless, authentic, blunt, candid, candidly, childlike, devout, downright, fair, forthright, Frank, frankly, freehearted, free-spoken, genuine, guileless, heartfelt, heart-whole, hearty, honest, honestly, ingenuous, kind, open, open-hearted, outright, outspoken, overt, plain, right-down, round, sincere, single, straight, straightforward, true, truly, truthful, undisguised, unfeigned, unpretending, unreserved, well-meant), simplu (agrestic, artless, austere, average, bald, bare, common, easy, elementary, grave, home-bred, homely, homespun, humble, humbly, mere, modest, natural, neat, patriarchal, plain, primitive, pure, quiet, ready, russet, segregate, simple, simple minded, simply, single, singular, soft-headed, straight, straightforward, unaffected, unassuming, undisguised, unpretending, unpretentious, unsophisticated, unvarnished), deschis (above board, artless, avowedly, bald, baldly, barefaced, barely, blunt, broad, direct, downright, flatly, forthright, Frank, frankly, freehearted, free-spoken, guileless, light, naked, open, openly, outright, outspoken, overt, overtly, pale, patent, raw, round, roundly, sincere, Square, straight, straightforward, unfeigned, unreserved), clar (apparent, apparently, articulate, banner, bright, broad, clean, clear, clear-cut, clearly, comprehensible, decided, definite, distinct, distinctly, evident, explicit, express, fair, flat, formal, Frank, incisive, legible, level headed, lightsome, limpid, lucid, luminous, manifest, marked, obvious, obviously, palpable, patently, pellucid, perspicuous, plain, precise, pure, serene, simple, sound, tangible, terse, unequivocal, unmistakable). (various references)

Russian 

прямо (avowedly, bang, direct, directly, endlong, endways, endwise, erect, foursquare, head-on, in plain English, just, on the level, outright, plump, point blank, slap, spang, squarely, straight, straight from the shoulder, straight out, straightly, up and down, uprightly). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

otvoreno (above board, blankly, bluntly, openly, overtly, point blank, roundly, unreservedly), očito (manifestly, obviously), jasno (clear, clearly, distinctly, manifestly, obviously, plain). (various references)

Spanish

simplemente (merely, simply), francamente (bluntly, frankly, honestly, openly, outright, outspokenly, plain, really), con claridad, claramente (apparently, brightly, clear, clearly, plain, sharply, transparently). (various references)

Swedish

helt enkelt (just, nothing less than, plain, simply). (various references)

Turkish

açıkça (above board, avowedly, bluntly, clear, clearly, cloudlessly, declaredly, definitely, directly, distinctly, downright, evidently, expressly, fairly, flatly, frankly, in round terms, manifestly, nakedly, openly, outright, outspokenly, plump, point blank, professedly, roundly, simply, straight out). (various references)

Ukrainian

відверто (above board, avowedly, baldly, barely, broadly, confessedly, explicitly, frankly, freely, in public, open-heartedly, openly, outright, outspokenly, plain, professedly, unreservedly, without reserve), прямо (above board, avowedly, baldly, bang, barely, broadly, clean, direct, directly, flush, forthright, outright, outspokenly, plump, point blank, roundly, straight, through, upright). (various references)

Vietnamese 

rõ r� ng giản dị, mộc mạc (chaste, rustic, simple), không quanh co (plain-spoken, plump), không úp mở (declared, overt, plain-spoken, plump, roundly), chất phác thẳng thắn, đơn giản. (various references)

aperte, balam, enucleate, evidenter, manifesto, palam, plane, videlicet. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Misspellings

"Plainly" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: playnle, pliantly, plianty, Pluvinel. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-2 letters: inlay, lapin, pally, plain.

-3 letters: ally, anil, ayin, illy, inly, lain, lily, liny, lipa, nail, nill, nipa, pail, pain, pall, paly, pial, pian, pill, pily, pina, piny, plan, play, pyin, yill.

-4 letters: ail, ain, all, alp, ani, any, ill, lap, lay, lin, lip, nap, nay, nil, nip, pal, pan, pay, pia, pin, ply.

+1 letter: alpinely, pliantly, spinally.

+2 letters: painfully.

+3 letters: flippantly, optionally, painlessly, phonically, pleadingly, pleasingly, plebeianly, polynomial.

+4 letters: appallingly, appealingly, callipygian, compliantly, municipally, palynologic, perennially, perinatally, placatingly, plaintively, polynomials, potentially, prattlingly, principally, suppliantly, untypically.

+5 letters: antiphonally, biparentally, entropically, euphonically, hypnotically, impersonally, inapplicably, inexplicably, monopodially, palynologies, palynologist, paralyzingly, paranoically, pedantically, peritoneally, phonemically, phonetically, plasmolyzing, platonically, polytonality, pontifically, positionally, pronominally, provincially, prudentially, septennially, synaptically, synoptically.