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plain

/pleɪn/adjective, adverb, noun

plain is spelled P-L-A-I-N: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 27 times per million words in written English, the 3,422nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “plain vs plane” about 3,600 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, plain means “Ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation; unembellished” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in plain?

Letters5: P-L-A-I-N
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing27 times per million words; the 3,422nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is plain?

Plain appears 27 times per million words in written English, the 3,422nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce plain?

  • US /pleɪn/
  • US [pl̥eɪn]
  • /plen/

Plain has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-plain.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with plain

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

plain vs plane3,600 G

Sounds like: plane (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: plane.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with plain?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as plain from its last stressed vowel (/eɪn/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: lapin.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of plain

  • plainer comparative
  • plainest superlative
  • plains plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • plaining participle, present
  • plained participle, past
  • plein

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does plain mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    archaicFlat, level.

  2. 2

    Ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation; unembellished.

    He was dressed simply in plain black clothes.

  3. 3

    Of just one colour; lacking a pattern.

    a plain pink polycotton skirt

  4. 4

    Simple in habits or qualities; unsophisticated, not exceptional, ordinary.

    They're just plain people like you or me.

  5. 5

    Having only few ingredients, or no additional ingredients or seasonings; not elaborate, without toppings or extras.

    Would you like a poppy bagel or a plain bagel?

  6. 6

    Containing no extended or nonprinting characters (especially in plain text).

  7. 7

    Evident to one's senses or reason; manifest, clear, unmistakable.

  8. 8

    Downright; total, unmistakable (as intensifier).

    His answer was just plain nonsense.

  9. 9

    obsoleteFull, complete in number or extent.

adverb

  1. 1

    colloquialSimply.

    It was just plain stupid.

  2. 2

    archaicPlainly; distinctly.

    Tell me plain: do you love me or no?

noun

  1. 1

    An expanse of land with relatively low relief and few trees, especially a grassy expanse.

  2. 2

    A broad, flat expanse in general, as of water.

  3. 3

    archaicSynonym of field in reference to a battlefield.

  4. 4

    obsoleteAlternative spelling of plane: a flat geometric field.

  5. 5

    rareA lamentation.

verb

  1. 1

    obsoleteTo level; to raze; to make plain or even on the surface.

    We would rake Europe rather, plain the East;

  2. 2

    obsoleteTo make plain or manifest; to explain.

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo complain.

  4. 4

    archaicTo lament, bewail.

    to plain a loss

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Plain in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchsimple (ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation), uni (of just one colour), nature (unseasoned), simple texte (computing: containing no non-printing characters), simplement (adverb), plaine (an expanse of land with relatively low relief)
Germanschlicht (ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation), Natur- (unseasoned), Ebene (an expanse of land with relatively low relief)
Portuguesesimples (ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation), natural, insípido (unseasoned), planície (an expanse of land with relatively low relief)
Spanishsencillo, llano, mondo, a palo seco (ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation), pleno, plenario (of just one colour)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does plain come from?

From Middle English pleyn, borrowed from Anglo-Norman pleyn, playn, Middle French plain, plein, and Old French plain, from Latin plānus (“flat, even, level, plain”). Doublet of llano, piano, plane, and plan.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after plain