plainly

plain +‎ -ly

• IPA^(key): /ˈpleɪnli/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

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

1. In a plain manner; simply; basically.

   She decorated the room plainly but neatly.

2. Obviously; clearly.
   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 1, in The Celebrity:

     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.

   • 1956 [1880], Johanna Spyri, Heidi, translation of original by Eileen Hall, page 95:

     'Tell me plainly what you think of my daughter's little companion.'

   You will see that ours is plainly the better method.