The difference between Plain and Usual
When used as adjectives, plain means flat, level, whereas usual means most commonly occurring.
Plain is also noun with the meaning: a lamentation.
Plain is also adverb with the meaning: simply.
Plain is also verb with the meaning: to complain.
check bellow for the other definitions of Plain and Usual
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Plain as an adjective (now, _, rare, regional):
Flat, level.
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Plain as an adjective (of food):
Simple. Ordinary; lacking adornment or ornamentation; unembellished. Of just one colour; lacking a pattern. Simple in habits or qualities; unsophisticated, not exceptional, ordinary. Having only few ingredients, or no additional ingredients or seasonings; not elaborate, without toppings or extras. Containing no extended or nonprinting characters (especially in ).
Examples:
"He was dressed simply in plain black clothes."
"a plain tune"
"a plain pink polycotton skirt"
"They're just plain people like you or me."
"Would you like a poppy bagel or a plain bagel?"
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Plain as an adjective:
Obvious. Evident to one's senses or reason; manifest, clear, unmistakable. Downright; total, unmistakable (as intensifier).
Examples:
"His answer was just plain nonsense."
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Plain as an adjective:
Open. Honest and without deception; candid, open; blunt. Clear; unencumbered; equal; fair.
Examples:
"Let me be plain with you: I don't like her."
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Plain as an adjective:
Not unusually beautiful; unattractive.
Examples:
"Throughout high school she worried that she had a rather plain face."
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Plain as an adverb (colloquial):
Simply
Examples:
"It was just plain stupid."
"I plain forgot."
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Plain as a noun (rare, poetic):
A lamentation.
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Plain as a verb (reflexive, obsolete):
To complain.
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Plain as a verb (ambitransitive, now, rare, poetic):
To lament, bewail.
Examples:
"to plain a loss"
"rfquotek Sir J. Harrington"
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Plain as a noun:
An expanse of land with relatively low relief.
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Plain as a noun:
A battlefield.
Examples:
"rfquotek Arbuthnot"
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Plain as a noun (obsolete):
A plane.
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Plain as a verb (obsolete, transitive):
To level; to raze; to make plain or even on the surface.
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Plain as a verb (obsolete, transitive):
To make plain or manifest; to explain.
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Usual as an adjective:
Most commonly occurring; typical.
Examples:
"The preference of a boy to a girl is a usual occurrence in some parts of China."
"It is becoming more usual these days to rear children as bilingual."