simple

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Easy to do or understand; not difficult.

   There is a simple way to solve this problem.

2. 2
   adj

   Not complicated; having few parts or little decoration.

   She prefers a simple life in the countryside.

3. 3
   adj

   Honest and natural; without tricks or pretence.

   He answered with simple honesty.

Common collocations

• simple answer Adjective + noun
• simple pleasure Adjective + noun
• simple fact Adjective + noun

Inherited from Middle English symple, simple, from Old French simple, from Latin simplex (“simple”, literally “onefold”) (as opposed to duplex (“double”, literally “twofold”)), from semel (“the same”) + plicō (“to fold”). See same and fold. Compare single, singular, simultaneous, etc. Partially displaced native English onefold.

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