simple

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adjective

Definition of SIMPLE

1

free from all additions or embellishment <a simple design, and one that never goes out of fashion>

Synonyms bald, bare, naked, plain-vanilla, simple, unadorned, undecorated, unembellished, unornamented, unvarnished

Related Words denuded, divested, stripped; au naturel, earthy, elemental, homely, natural, unsophisticated; forthright, honest, modest, unpretentious; clean; antiseptic, austere, bleak, severe, spartan, stark; minimalist; inconspicuous, muted, restrained, sober, subdued, toned (down), unobtrusive; conservative, quiet, understated

Near Antonyms flamboyant, flashy, garish, gaudy, glittery, glitzy, loud, ostentatious, showy, splashy, swank (or swanky), tawdry; bedizened, florid, lurid, ornate; exaggerated, overdecorated, overdone, overwrought; baroque, elaborate, extravagant, ornate, rococo; appareled (or apparelled), arrayed, bedecked, decked-out, dressed, embroidered, garnished, trimmed

Antonyms adorned, decorated, embellished, fancy, ornamented

2

free from any intent to deceive or impress others <growing up in simple innocence>

Synonyms artless, genuine, honest, ingenuous, innocent, naive (or naïve), natural, real, simple, sincere, true, unaffected, unpretending, unpretentious

Related Words childlike, dewy-eyed, gee-whiz, impressionable, inexperienced, malleable, persuadable, persuasible, simpleminded, unsophisticated, unworldly, wide-eyed; spontaneous, unforced, unstudied; candid, direct, frank, free, free-spoken, open, openhearted, plain, plainspoken, single-minded, straight, straightforward, unguarded; trustful, trusting; exploitable, gullible (also gullable), susceptible, unwary

Near Antonyms critical, cynical, mistrustful, skeptical, suspicious, wary; cosmopolitan, sophisticated, worldly, worldly-wise; civilized, cultivated, cultured, polished, refined; crooked, deceitful, deceptive, devious, double-dealing, hypocritical, manipulative, two-faced; arch, calculating, canny, crafty, cunning, designing, foxy, knavish, scheming, sharp, shifty, shrewd, slick, slippery, sly, subtle, tricky, underhanded, wily; flattering, mealymouthed, smooth, sycophantic, unctuous; feigned, forced, strained

Antonyms affected, artful, artificial, assuming, dishonest, dissembling, dissimulating, fake, false, guileful, insincere, phony (also phoney), pretentious

3

having no exceptions or restrictions <that's the simple truth>

Synonyms all-out, arrant, blank, blooming [chiefly British], bodacious [Southern & Midland], categorical (also categoric), clean, complete, consummate, cotton-picking, crashing, damn, damned, dead, deadly, definite, downright, dreadful, fair, flat, flat-out, out-and-out, outright, perfect, plumb, profound, pure, rank, regular, sheer, simple, stark, stone, straight-out, thorough, thoroughgoing, total, unadulterated, unalloyed, unconditional, unmitigated, unqualified, utter, very

Related Words authentic, classic, genuine, real, veritable; constant, endless, eternal, perpetual, undying, unremitting; extreme, unrestricted; confirmed, habitual, hopeless, inveterate; extraordinary, frightful, horrible, huge, main, superlative, supreme, surpassing, terrible, terrific

Near Antonyms doubtful, dubious, equivocal, qualified, questionable, restricted, uncertain

4

involving minimal difficulty or effort <I got all of the answers right because it was such a simple test>

Synonyms cheap, downhill, effortless, facile, fluent, fluid, hands-down, light, painless, ready, royal, simple, smooth, snap, soft

Related Words idiotproof, mindless, quick, straightforward, unchallenging, uncomplicated; apparent, clear, clear-cut, distinct, evident, manifest, obvious, open-and-shut, palpable, patent, perspicuous, plain, transparent, unambiguous, unequivocal, unmistakable

Near Antonyms burdensome, exhausting, onerous, oppressive, painful, stressful, taxing, troublesome; abstruse, complex, complicated, intricate, involved, knotty, problematic (also problematical), recondite

Antonyms arduous, demanding, difficult, exacting, formidable, grueling (or gruelling), hard, herculean, killer, labored, laborious, murderous, rough, severe, stiff, strenuous, toilful, toilsome, tough

5

lacking in worldly wisdom or informed judgment <developers mistakenly thought that the local residents were simple people who would sell their land for practically nothing>

Synonyms aw-shucks, dewy, dewy-eyed, green, ingenuous, innocent, naïf (or naif), primitive, simple, simpleminded, uncritical, unknowing, unsophisticated, unsuspecting, unsuspicious, unwary, unworldly, wide-eyed

Related Words callow, childish, immature, inexperienced, raw; childlike, idealistic, impractical, unrealistic; believing, credulous, gullible (also gullable), susceptible, trustful, trusting, unguarded; beguiled, duped, gulled, tricked; careless, heedless, thoughtless

Near Antonyms critical, cynical, doubting, incredulous, skeptical, suspecting, suspicious, unconvinced; careful, cautious, guarded, leery (also leary), wary, watchful; down-to-earth, hardheaded, pragmatic (also pragmatical), realistic, sober; street-smart, streetwise

Antonyms cosmopolitan, experienced, knowing, sophisticated, worldly, worldly-wise

6

lacking in education or the knowledge gained from books <the fact that he didn't go to college doesn't mean he's simple>

Synonyms analphabetic, benighted, dark, illiterate, nonliterate, rude, simple, uneducated, uninstructed, unlearned, unlettered, unread, unschooled, untaught, untutored

Related Words functionally illiterate, innumerate, semiliterate, unknowledgeable; artless, lowbrow, philistine, uncultivated, uncultured; callow, green, inexperienced, innocent, naive (or naïve); unsophisticated; raw, unskilled, untrained; brainless, dumb, idiotic (also idiotical), imbecile (or imbecilic), moronic, stupid, witless; foolish, senseless, silly

Near Antonyms brilliant, intelligent, smart; experienced, expert, trained; erudite, learned, polyhistoric, polymath (or polymathic), scholarly; cultivated, cultured, highbrow, intellectual; sophisticated; acquainted, aware, familiar

Antonyms educated, knowledgeable, lettered, literate, schooled, well-informed, well-read

7

not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily <don't be so quick to characterize people who have trouble with computers as simple>

Synonyms airheaded, birdbrained, bonehead, boneheaded, brain-dead, brainless, bubbleheaded, chuckleheaded, dense, dim, dim-witted, doltish, dopey (also dopy), dorky [slang], dull, dumb, dunderheaded, empty-headed, fatuous, gormless [chiefly British], half-witted, knuckleheaded, lamebrain (or lamebrained), lunkheaded, mindless, oafish, obtuse, opaque, pinheaded, senseless, simple, slow, slow-witted, soft, softheaded, thick, thickheaded, thick-witted, unintelligent, unsmart, vacuous, weak-minded, witless

Related Words cretinous, feebleminded, simpleminded; boobish, foolish, idiotic (also idiotical), imbecile (or imbecilic), moronic; ignorant, illiterate, lowbrow, uneducated, uninformed, unintellectual, untaught, unthinking; absurd, asinine, balmy, cockeyed, crackpot, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dippy, dotty, featherheaded, fool, half-baked, harebrained, insane, kooky (also kookie), loony (also looney), lunatic, mad, nonsensical, nutty, preposterous, sappy, screwball, silly, tomfool, unwise, wacky (also whacky), zany; fallacious, illogical, invalid, irrational, unreasonable

Near Antonyms ingenious, resourceful; acute, astute, discerning, insightful, keen, knowing, perceptive, percipient, perspicacious, sagacious, sage, sapient, savvy, wise; cerebral, erudite, highbrow, intellectual, knowledgeable, learned, literate, scholarly, thinking, well-read; educated, informed, schooled, skilled, trained; crafty, cunning, foxy, shrewd, wily; judicious, prudent, sane, sensible, sound; logical, rational, reasonable, valid

Antonyms apt, brainy, bright, brilliant, clever, fast, hyperintelligent, intelligent, keen, nimble, quick, quick-witted, sharp, sharp-witted, smart, supersmart, ultrasmart