Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

plainly

/ˈpleɪnli/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.38 in modern English

Syllables: plain-ly
IPA: /ˈpleɪnli/

12

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

adv

In a plain manner; simply; basically.

adv

Obviously; clearly.

Example Sentences

"She decorated the room plainly but neatly."
"'Tell me plainly what you think of my daughter's little companion.'"
"You will see that ours is plainly the better method."
"The stories did not seem to me to touch life. They were plainly intended to have a bracing moral effect, and perhaps had this result for the people at whom they were aimed. They left me with the impression of a well-delivered stereopticon lecture, with characters about as life-like as the shadows on the screen, and whisking on and off, at the mercy of the operator."
"Plainly he was prepared to bark out an interminable succession of charges against the Wanderer."

Etymology

From Middle English playnly, pleinly, pleyneliche, equivalent to plain + -ly.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: playnly
Suffix: plain

Inflected Forms

plainlier (comparative) more plainly (comparative) plainliest (superlative) most plainly (superlative)

Synonyms

expressly unambiguously obviously simply evidently manifestly patently apparently plain

Rhymes With

mainly humanely ungainly vainly ainley

Questions

How do you pronounce plainly?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpleɪnli/.
What does plainly mean?: In a plain manner; simply; basically.
Where does plainly come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce plainly

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “plainly”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈpleɪnli/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “plainly”.
Repeat and practice — Say “plainly” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.