plainly

adverb

Definition of plainlynext
1
as in openly
in an honest and direct manner you'll have to tell your relatives very plainly that you don't like perfume, or they'll keep giving it to you

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in certainly
without any question your wife is plainly upset that you didn't invite her to the game with us

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of plainly Offer the resource, name it plainly, and then return to the harder and simpler work of being present. — Mena Mirhom, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026 Name the conflict plainly, offer realistic timing, and protect the commitment that matters most today. — Tarot.com, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 July 2026 Some of the immigrants wrote HELP in the windows of their cells, plainly visible to anyone walking along the street below. — Thomas Kennedy, Sun Sentinel, 26 July 2026 In Sinclair Lewis’s 1917 novel The Job, the heroine, Una, sees it all quite plainly. — Jake Lundberg, The Atlantic, 23 July 2026 Sagittarius November 22 – December 21 A partnership breakthrough depends on saying the plain thing plainly. — Tarot.com, Hartford Courant, 18 July 2026 November 22 – December 21 A partnership breakthrough depends on saying the plain thing plainly. — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 18 July 2026 Lead author Professor Gill Livingston of UCL Psychiatry framed the takeaway plainly. — Samantha Agate, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 July 2026 Had those industries spoken plainly about the dangers of their products, their motives would rightly have been scrutinized—but the candor itself would have been preferable to years of deceit. — Harry Booth, Time, 17 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for plainly
  1. openly
  2. certainly
  3. sincerely
  4. surely
  5. plain
  6. definitely
  7. honestly
  8. clearly
Adverb
  • The actions mark a sharp break with a US practice of handling bilateral disputes largely behind closed doors, and not openly interfering in Mexican politics.
    — Mary Beth Sheridan, CNN Money, 25 July 2026
  • An openly gay man in Catholic Italy as well as an old-school romantic, Visconti was cinema’s great poet of impossible loves.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 24 July 2026
Definition of openly
Adverb
  • Jackson was certainly excited about that after being stepped on during an early part of 2025 training camp caused him to a miss a significant chunk of time.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 30 July 2026
  • Emma, on the other hand, certainly knows what that role is — now grown up and a mom herself.
    — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 29 July 2026
Definition of certainly
Adverb
  • Colquitt sincerely believes that her work can restore the dignity too often denied people in their last days.
    — John Semley, Harpers Magazine, 28 July 2026
  • But the results and the action on the field were second to the experience for Baldwin, who was sincerely present in the moment during the two days of All-Star Game activities.
    — Chad Bishop, AJC.com, 15 July 2026
Definition of sincerely
Adverb
  • Gavin John Slowly but surely, every building in Fort Albany saw a strand of fiber drop from overhead and come through a box drilled into the wall, ready to connect to a router.
    — IEEE Spectrum, IEEE Spectrum, 30 July 2026
  • Trump would surely claim that the statute of limitations on his criminal charges has expired.
    — Chris Brennan, USA Today, 30 July 2026
Definition of surely
Adverb
  • Natural Selection’s new-build camp Tawana is set amid Botswana’s Moremi Game Reserve, some 1,900 square miles of grassland and flood plain teeming with antelope and elephants, lions and hippos.
    — Laura Dannen Redman, Robb Report, 23 July 2026
  • Well-fitting clothing is especially key for petite fashion lovers like me, because when proportions are off, an outfit can quickly turn frumpy, not to mention just plain uncomfortable.
    — Olivia Cigliano, InStyle, 18 July 2026
Definition of plain
Adverb
  • The Alphabet subsidiary filed 488 crash reports to the agency during the study period, of which researchers found 89 definitely or plausibly police-reportable.
    — Rob Pegoraro, PC Magazine, 24 July 2026
  • These advances will definitely help build a future where AI models could actually be run on the phone with minimal power consumption.
    — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 24 July 2026
Definition of definitely
Adverb
  • Leaders must honestly review past performance, confronting uncomfortable truths rather than defending old decisions.
    — Dev Patnaik, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
  • The historian Eugen Weber wrote influentially of how peasants who spoke languages like Occitan, Breton, or Basque became—or, more honestly, were made—Frenchmen.
    — Nikhil Krishnan, New Yorker, 20 July 2026
Definition of honestly
Adverb
  • With Cincinnati clearly swinging for the fences after an active offseason in hopes of maximizing quarterback Joe Burrow’s prime, Pitcher could receive an even larger spotlight.
    — Jourdan Rodrigue, New York Times, 21 July 2026
  • The true number of cases is in the thousands, clearly exceeding the country’s standard range of between 2,000 and 5,000 in recent years.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 21 July 2026
Definition of clearly

Browse Nearby Words

plain Janes
plainly
plainness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Plainly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plainly. Accessed 1 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on plainly

Nglish: Translation of plainly for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of spindrift

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

Your vs. You're: How to Use Them Correctly
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Jul. 31

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
asap street sign
Figure Out These Acronyms ASAP You don't have to be a NASA engineer to get these...
See All