Thesaurus results for PLAINS

plains

noun

Definition of plains

plural of plain

as in prairies

a broad area of level or rolling treeless country the first settlers in that area lived on the vast plains in lonely log cabins

Synonyms & Similar Words

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as in expanses

a wide space or area the vast plains of snow-covered earth that seemed to stretch endlessly

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of plains The plains were a far smoother ride, and both our joints and the Jeep’s suspension settled down to coast over kilometres of unbroken grassland. — Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026 The fertile plains of Punjab are a world apart from the Appalachian Mountains, to which country music traces its roots. — Harmeet Kaur, CNN Money, 19 Sep. 2026 Conversely, Florida beat up on Florida Atlantic to open the season, then scheduled an FCS beatdown as its tune-up before heading to the plains. — Noah White, Miami Herald, 17 Sep. 2026 Meanwhile, on Monday night, severe thunderstorms and damaging wind gusts between 70 and 83 miles per hour took down power lines and trees in the plains of Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. — ABC News, 15 Sep. 2026 This year they’ve been spotted on the plains more than an hour’s drive east of Colorado Springs. — Brittany Peterson, Fortune, 8 Sep. 2026 The last flyby, in January 2025, yielded stunning photos of Mercury’s impact craters and volcanic plains. — Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026 The girls live on the plains in an isolated community largely dominated by taciturn male farmers and hunters. — Vikram Murthi, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026 Here, age-old traditions fuse with contemporary flavors, archaeological marvels meet modernist museums, rugged peaks are juxtaposed against verdant plains, and stretches of sandy shorelines lead to charming inland villages. — Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for plains

Noun

Over his shoulder was an enormous portrait of the hatchet-wielding temperance crusader Carrie Nation, an icon of resistance to the excesses of the first Gilded Age, when similar discontent had roiled the prairies.

— Kyle Paoletta, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
Yet the black-footed ferret remains the face of conservation of the prairies.

— Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of prairies

Noun

Listed by Wetzel and fellow Realtor Ingrid Williams for $899,000, curious travelers have been driving past the eye-catching estate for decades, admiring its unique and surprising presence among the expanses of nearby farmland.

— Richard Lane, Des Moines Register, 21 Sep. 2026
Towering cathedrals of ice define the shore, in contrast to the vast, untouched, eerily silent expanses that stretch inland.

— Robb Report Studio, Robb Report, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of expanses

Noun

The two tortoises on board were, appropriately, Russian steppes tortoises, NASA has said.

— Tariq Malik, Space.com, 15 Sep. 2026
Historical legacy is not destiny, and Russia’s excesses cannot be blamed solely on its ties to the political culture of the steppes.

— Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of steppes

Noun

According to McKinnon, the FAA’s willingness to approve incremental expansions on a case-by-case basis is partly about gathering the real-world data needed to eventually finalize Part 108.

— Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 18 Sep. 2026
The roughly 750-mile system is estimated to have a total design capacity of 7 million barrels per day, following recent expansions.

— Sam Meredith, CNBC, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of expansions

Noun

More than 85% of the world’s wetlands are gone, according to researchers, and North America has already lost more than half its grasslands.

— Story Hinckley, Christian Science Monitor, 23 Sep. 2026
Up to a million wild black-footed ferrets once bounded in the grasslands from Canada to Mexico, between Arizona and Kansas.

— Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of grasslands

Noun

The center of the activities was a grove, within a ring of trees, considered to be one of the oldest oak savannas in the state.

— Gregory Harutunian, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026
The new property is nestled inside a 45,000-acre private conservancy with open savannahs and waterholes nearby.

— Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 8 July 2026

Definition of savannas

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plainness

plains

plainspoken

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“Plains.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plains. Accessed 26 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of plains

noun

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