Synonyms of plumb

plumb 1 of 3

adjective

1

as in utter

having no exceptions or restrictions

a horror movie that's plumb trash and further evidence of the deterioration of popular culture

Synonyms & Similar Words

• utter
• complete
• sheer
• absolute
• pure
• unconditional
• simple
• total
• damned
• perfect
• definite
• outright
• damn
• very
• unmitigated
• real
• thoroughgoing
• clean
• flat
• unqualified
• unadulterated
• deadly
• consummate
• blank
• crashing
• downright
• profound
• thorough
• straight-out
• unalloyed
• regular
• endless
• dead
• bodacious
• flat-out
• out-and-out
• arrant
• huge
• stone
• blooming
• fair
• dreadful
• stark
• constant
• categorical
• genuine
• rank
• all-out
• authentic
• eternal
• veritable
• perpetual
• classic
• categoric
• unremitting
• horrible
• extreme
• terrible
• unrestricted
• hopeless
• main
• supreme
• undying
• extraordinary
• confirmed
• superlative
• terrific
• habitual
• inveterate
• frightful
• surpassing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• uncertain
• qualified
• doubtful
• restricted
• questionable
• dubious
• equivocal

2

as in vertical

rising straight up

the wall was not plumb, so everything else in the room was out of kilter

Synonyms & Similar Words

• vertical
• erect
• standing
• perpendicular
• upright
• lifted
• raised
• upstanding
• elevated
• upended
• stand-up
• upraised
• freestanding
• semierect
• stand-alone

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• flat
• recumbent
• prostrate
• supine
• hanging
• diagonal
• sagging
• slant
• slanted
• slanting
• slanty

plumb

2 of 3

adverb

1

as in straight

in a direct line or course

I can't believe he walked plumb into the tree, without even seeing it!

Synonyms & Similar Words

• straight
• right
• directly
• direct
• dead
• as the crow flies
• straightway
• due
• plump

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• indirectly
• circuitously
• deviously
• veeringly

2

as in fully

chiefly dialect to a full extent or degree

I'm plumb tuckered out

Synonyms & Similar Words

• fully
• completely
• quite
• perfectly
• totally
• all
• utterly
• thoroughly
• wide
• wholly
• fast
• even
• well
• out
• entirely
• exactly
• absolutely
• entire
• enough
• flat
• for fair
• dead
• clean
• full
• in whole
• soundly
• down the line
• all over
• to pieces
• to bits
• all the way
• at length
• heartily
• through and through
• down to the ground
• plain
• to the max
• basically
• cold
• altogether
• to the hilt
• downright
• all of
• unqualifiedly
• substantially
• mostly
• stone-cold
• principally
• generally
• chiefly
• categorically
• largely
• predominantly
• primarily
• stone
• mainly
• by and large
• greatly
• hands down
• predominately
• generously
• more or less
• copiously
• abundantly
• overall

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• partially
• halfway
• partly
• just
• half
• slightly
• barely
• scarcely
• hardly
• marginally
• incompletely
• superficially
• minimally
• somewhat
• part
• approximately
• roughly
• kind of

3

as in immediately

without delay

we had no sooner resolved that crisis than we plumb rushed into another one

Synonyms & Similar Words

• immediately
• promptly
• right
• instantly
• now
• directly
• right away
• bang
• away
• right now
• right off
• quickly
• straight off
• at once
• suddenly
• straightaway
• on the spot
• incontinently
• soon
• in no time
• instantaneously
• on the double
• forthwith
• shortly
• headlong
• off the bat
• straightway
• presently
• instanter
• on a dime
• pronto
• freely
• rapidly
• swiftly
• quick
• abruptly
• PDQ
• momentarily
• readily
• fast
• speedily
• swift
• unexpectedly
• briskly
• apace
• hastily
• presto
• opportunely
• posthaste
• fleetly
• recklessly
• rashly
• seasonably
• impetuously
• full tilt
• impulsively
• anon
• punctually
• snappily
• exactly

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• slowly
• late
• tardily

plumb

3 of 3

verb

as in to scale

to measure the depth of (as a body of water) typically with a weighted line

plumbed the bay to make sure it was deep enough for the ship

Synonyms & Similar Words

• scale
• fathom
• span
• gage
• gauge
• sound
• replumb
• remeasure

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective plumb differ from other similar words?

The words perpendicular and vertical are common synonyms of plumb. While all three words mean "being at right angles to a base line," plumb stresses an exact verticality determined (as with a plumb line) by earth's gravity.

make sure that the wall is plumb

When might perpendicular be a better fit than plumb?

Although the words perpendicular and plumb have much in common, perpendicular may stress the straightness of a line making a right angle with any other line, not necessarily a horizontal one.

the parallel bars are perpendicular to the support posts

In what contexts can vertical take the place of plumb?

In some situations, the words vertical and plumb are roughly equivalent. However, vertical suggests a line or direction rising straight upward toward a zenith.

the side of the cliff is almost vertical

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of plumb

Adjective

In My Mother and Eye, 2025, a sweeping Public Art Fund project installed in bus shelters across New York City, Boston, and Chicago, eleven discrete photographic collages plumb this intangible meeting point. —Jessica Simmons-Reid, Artforum, 1 June 2025

Artists were enlisted to plumb surreality and to popularize it. —Jonathon Keats, Forbes.com, 29 Apr. 2025

Verb

On a brighter note, with Mercury and Mars in your sign, your words and mind are especially sharp, evoking passion and a desire to plumb beneath the surface of your exchanges. —Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 22 Sep. 2025

For nearly five decades, NASA's twin Voyager probes have plumbed the cosmos in search of answers to some of astronomy's most perplexing mysteries about our solar system and its place in the wider universe. —Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 8 Sep. 2025

Phrases Containing plumb

• off plumb
• out of plumb