simplistic

adjective

sim·​plis·​tic sim-ˈpli-stik 

: excessively simple or simplified : treating a problem or subject with false simplicity by omitting or ignoring complicating factors or details

… adequate, if occasionally simplistic, historical background …

—Harlow Robinson

The simplistic headlines of the press can be very misleading.

—Matt Ridley

Choosing wars as demarcations of cultural time segments may seem simplistic, but there is little question that a new sensibility made its appearance in the United States after World War II.

—Naomi Rosenblum

simplistically

sim-ˈpli-sti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Did you know?

The facts of nature and of life are more apt to be complex than simple. Simplistic theories are generally one-sided and partial, wrote the American clergyman James Freeman Clarke in the 19th century, nicely illustrating the difference between plain, ordinary simple and the then-new adjective simplistic. Simplistic is generally synonymous with oversimplified, but we didn't have the verb oversimplify and its participle oversimplified until well into the 20th century. Simplistic is sometimes used in the neutral sense of "not complicated" (in which case it is synonymous with simple) but this borders on misuse-simplistic is generally understood to be pejorative.

Examples of simplistic in a Sentence

a simplistic approach to a complicated problem

His interpretation of the theory was too simplistic.

Recent Examples on the Web

Competition mattered, too, but not in a simplistic sense. —Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 17 Jan. 2026

The idea that women won’t attract Soviet suspicion because they’re overlooked and underestimated, as bureau chief Dane (Adrian Lester) argues to his superiors as a rationale for taking them on, is both simplistic and swiftly belied by the show’s subsequent events. —Alison Herman, Variety, 15 Jan. 2026

Real solidarity means supporting unglamorous organizing work, resisting simplistic narratives and exercising patience. —Narges Bajoghli, Time, 13 Jan. 2026

The Outback’s new exterior shares newness-billing with a new practical and simplistic interior. —James Raia, Mercury News, 11 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1844, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for simplistic

• artistic
• autistic
• ballistic
• cladistic
• heuristic
• holistic
• linguistic
• logistic
• monistic
• patristic
• sadistic
• sophistic

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Kids Definition

simplistic

adjective

sim·​plis·​tic sim-ˈplis-tik 

1

: simple sense 8

2

: characterized by too much simplicity : not involving or dealing with related complexities

a simplistic explanation of the situation

simplistically

-ti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb