plain
adjective /pleɪn/
/pleɪn/
Idioms 不尚修饰的;朴素的;简单的 - a plain but elegant dress
朴素淡雅的连衣裙 - plain food
清淡的食物 - The interior of the church was plain and simple.
教堂内部朴素无华。 - plain yogurt (= without sugar or fruit)
原味酸奶
Homophones plain | planeplain plane/pleɪn//pleɪn/- plain adjective
- She likes plain food, without sauces or cheese.
她喜欢简单的食物,不加酱汁或奶酪。
- She likes plain food, without sauces or cheese.
- plain noun
- Wheat is still grown on the Lombardy plain.
伦巴第平原上仍然种植小麦。
- Wheat is still grown on the Lombardy plain.
- plane noun
- They recently flew into London on a private plane.
他们最近乘私人飞机飞往伦敦。
- They recently flew into London on a private plane.
- plane verb
- You may need to plane the surface for a smoother fit.
您可能需要平整表面以获得更平滑的贴合。
- You may need to plane the surface for a smoother fit.
Topics Houses and homesb2- The dress was absolutely plain, but quite stunning.
这件裙装非常简单,但是十分漂亮。 - The food was fairly plain, but well cooked.
虽然都是家常菜,但是做得很好。 - I prefer plain, simple things.
我更喜欢简单明了的东西。 - He eats his popcorn plain.
他吃他的爆米花。
Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- look
- seem
- …
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
- plain blue, white, etc.
- a plain but elegant dress
素的;无花纹的;单色的 - covers in plain or printed cotton
单色或印花的罩布 - Write on plain paper (= without lines).
用无格白纸书写。
Topics Clothes and Fashionb2- Patterned carpet shows the dirt less than a plain colour.
花色地毯比单色地毯耐脏。 - a range of plain and printed linens
一系列素色和印花亚麻布 - Do you want plain or lined paper?
你想要白纸还是条格纸? - a plain white shirt
纯白色衬衫
Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- look
- seem
- …
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
- plain blue, white, etc.
- covers in plain or printed cotton
synonym clear清楚的;明显的;浅白的 - He made it plain that we should leave.
他明确表示要我们离开。 - She made her annoyance plain.
她满脸不耐烦。 - The facts were plain to see.
事实显而易见。 - It was a rip-off, plain and simple.
这是一个不折不扣的冒牌货。 - plain to somebody It is all very plain to me.
在我看来非常清楚。 - it is plain (to somebody) that… It was plain that she wanted to leave.
很明显,她想离开。 - it is plain (to somebody) how, what, etc…. It was plain to everyone just how dangerous the site could be.
每个人都清楚这个地方有多危险。 - plain from something (that…) What is quite plain from the evidence before me is (that) the figures are false.
从摆在我面前的证据来看,很明显这些数字是假的。
Synonyms clearclear- obvious
- apparent
- evident
- plain
- clear easy to see or understand and leaving no doubts:
- It was quite clear to me that she was lying.
我十分清楚她在撒谎。
- It was quite clear to me that she was lying.
- obvious easy to see or understand:
- It’s obvious from what he said that something is wrong.
根据他所说的,显然是出问题了。
- It’s obvious from what he said that something is wrong.
- apparent [not usually before noun] (rather formal) easy to see or understand:
指明显的、显然的、易理解的: - It was apparent from her face that she was really upset.
从面容上一眼就可以看出她确实心绪烦乱。
- It was apparent from her face that she was really upset.
- evident (rather formal) easy to see or understand:
指明显的、显然的、易理解的: - The orchestra played with evident enjoyment.
管弦乐队演奏得兴致勃勃。
- The orchestra played with evident enjoyment.
- plain easy to see or understand:
- He made it very plain that he wanted us to leave.
他明确表示要我们离开。
- He made it very plain that he wanted us to leave.
- These words all have almost exactly the same meaning. There are slight differences in register and patterns of use. If you make something clear/plain, you do so deliberately because you want people to understand something; if you make something obvious, you usually do it without meaning to:
- I hope I make myself obvious.
- Try not to make it so clear/plain.
- an evident case of something.
- clear/obvious/apparent/evident/plain to somebody/something
- clear/obvious/apparent/evident/plain that/what/who/how/where/why…
- to seem/become/make something clear/obvious/apparent/evident/plain
- perfectly/quite/very clear/obvious/apparent/evident/plain
- They made it plain that they were against the idea.
他们明确表示反对这个观点。 - Within weeks, it became perfectly plain that we were in the grip of a tyrant.
没过几个星期,事情就变得很清楚了:我们落在了暴君手里。 - He made it very plain that he wanted us to leave.
他明确表示要我们离开。 - Her intentions were plain enough.
她的意图再清楚不过。 - It was plain to us that they had left fairly recently.
对我们来说,他们显然是最近才离开的。
Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- seem
- become
- …
- fairly
- very
- etc.
- …
- to
- He made it plain that we should leave.
- not trying to trick anyone; honest and direct
坦诚的;直率的;直接的 - The plain fact is that nobody really knows.
事实很明显,没有人真正了解。 - a politician with a reputation for plain speaking
说话直率出了名的一个政治人物 - (especially North American English) a plain, straightforward sort of man
一个朴素、直率的人
Synonyms plainplain- simple
- stark
- bare
- unequivocal
- plain used for talking about a fact that other people may not like to hear; honest and direct in a way that other people may not like:
- The plain fact is that nobody really knows.
事实很明显,没有人真正了解。
- The plain fact is that nobody really knows.
- simple [only before noun] used for talking about a fact that other people may not like to hear; very obvious and not complicated by anything else:
- The simple truth is that we just can’t afford it.
事实很简单,我们就是付不起。
- The simple truth is that we just can’t afford it.
When it is being used to emphasize facts that other people may not like to hear, plain is usually used in the expression the plain fact/truth is that… Simple can be used in this way too, but it can also be used in a wider variety of structures and collocations (such as reason and matter): The problem was due to the simple fact that… • The problem was due to the plain fact that… • for the plain reason that… • It’s a plain matter of… Expressions with simple often suggest impatience with other people’s behaviour.用 plain 还是 simple? - stark (rather formal) used for describing an unpleasant fact or difference that is very obvious:
用于描述令人不快的事实或区别十分明显、鲜明: - The stark truth is that there is not enough money left.
明摆着的事实是剩下的钱已经不够了。
- The stark truth is that there is not enough money left.
- bare [only before noun] the most basic or simple, with nothing extra:
- She gave me only the bare facts of the case.
她只给我介绍了这个案件的一些基本资料。
- She gave me only the bare facts of the case.
- unequivocal (formal) expressing your opinion or intention very clearly and firmly:
指表达明确的、毫不含糊的、斩钉截铁的: - The reply was an unequivocal ‘no’.
回答是个干脆利落的“不”字。
- The reply was an unequivocal ‘no’.
- the plain/simple/stark/bare/unequivocal truth
- a(n) plain/simple/stark/bare/unequivocal fact/statement
- a(n) plain/simple/unequivocal answer
Topics Personal qualitiesc1- He prided himself on being a plain, honest man with no nonsense about him.
他为自己是个朴素、诚实、规规矩矩的人而感到自豪。 - Let's be plain about this: we will need to make some difficult choices.
我们还是直截了当地说吧:我们得作出艰苦的抉择。
- The plain fact is that nobody really knows.
- [only before noun] used to emphasize that something is very ordinary, not special in any way
synonym everyday极普通的;平庸的;平凡的 - You don't need any special skills for this job, just plain common sense.
这项工作不需要任何特殊技能,只要有普通常识就够了。 - The situation thrives on half-truths and plain ignorance.
这种情况是由半真半假和明显的无知造成的。
- You don't need any special skills for this job, just plain common sense.
- (especially of a woman
) not beautiful or attractive尤指女人 相貌平平的;无姿色的 - She looked very plain and dowdy.
她长得非常普通,衣也过时。 - a rather plain woman
长得相当不起眼的女子 - As a child she was rather plain.
她小时候相貌平平。
- She looked very plain and dowdy.
- describing a simple stitch used in knitting
(编织)平针的,平纹的
词源Middle English: from Old French plain, from Latin planus, from a base meaning ‘flat’.
Idioms
be plain sailing
(North American English be clear/smooth sailing)
- to be simple and free from trouble
顺利;一帆风顺
in plain English
- simply and clearly expressed, without using technical language
用平白的言语(或文字) - a document written in plain English
用简单英语写的文件 - If you could put it in plain English I might be able to understand.
如果你能用简单的英语说出来,我也许能理解。 - Teachers should encourage students to write in plain English.
教师应鼓励学生用平白的英文写作。
- a document written in plain English
(as) plain as a pikestaff | (as) plain as day | (as) plain as the nose on your face
- very obvious
一清二楚;一目了然;显而易见