plainly

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈpleɪnli/ UK /ˈpleɪnli/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adv
clearly and unmistakably; in a simple, frank manner

He spoke plainly, leaving no room for misinterpretation.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adv · clearly and unmistakably;... clearly evidently obviously frankly simply candidly distinctly manifestly

Opposites

ambiguously obscurely elaborately

Word family

Related forms plain plainness

Etymology

From Middle English playnly, from plain (from Old French plain, Latin planus 'flat, clear') + -ly.

plain Old French planus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# plainly

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adv
**IPA (US):** /ˈpleɪnli/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈpleɪnli/

## Meanings
1. clearly and unmistakably; in a simple, frank manner

## Examples
- He spoke plainly, leaving no room for misinterpretation.

## Synonyms
- clearly
- evidently
- obviously
- frankly
- simply
- candidly
- distinctly
- manifestly

## Antonyms
- ambiguously
- obscurely
- elaborately

## Related Forms
- plain
- plainness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: plain
- Root: planus

## Etymology
From Middle English playnly, from plain (from Old French plain, Latin planus 'flat, clear') + -ly.

## AI Etymology
Plainly comes from Middle English playnly, from plain (from Old French plain, Latin planus 'flat, clear') + -ly. The historical trail runs through Old French plain and Latin planus. Morphologically, the surface form is analyzable into prefixes, suffixes, compounds, or participial endings that carry part of the history. In modern use it means clearly and unmistakably; in a simple, frank manner. Related forms include plain, plainness.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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