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as in dumb
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 & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective simple contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of simple are easy, effortless, facile, light, and smooth. While all these words mean "not demanding effort or involving difficulty," simple stresses ease in understanding or dealing with because complication is absent.

a simple problem in arithmetic

When could easy be used to replace simple?

The meanings of easy and simple largely overlap; however, easy is applicable either to persons or things imposing tasks or to activity required by such tasks.

an easy college course

In what contexts can effortless take the place of simple?

While the synonyms effortless and simple are close in meaning, effortless stresses the appearance of ease and usually implies the prior attainment of artistry or expertness.

moving with effortless grace

How are the words facile and easy related as synonyms of simple?

Facile often adds to easy the connotation of undue haste or shallowness.

facile answers to complex questions

When is light a more appropriate choice than simple?

Although the words light and simple have much in common, light stresses freedom from what is burdensome.

a light teaching load

When is it sensible to use smooth instead of simple?

The synonyms smooth and simple are sometimes interchangeable, but smooth stresses the absence or removal of all difficulties, hardships, or obstacles.

a smooth ride

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 simple Wear them with a smooth button-down shirt to the office or with a simple T-shirt to run errands. Rylee Johnston, PEOPLE, 18 Oct. 2025 And as immigration raids escalated in the spring of this year, fear began to cloud simple outings like family trips to the park. Faith Karimi, CNN Money, 18 Oct. 2025 This is a simple offer from FanDuel Sportsbook. Tyler Everett, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Oct. 2025 Or perhaps there was a simpler explanation. Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for simple
Recent Examples of Synonyms for simple
Adjective
  • The promise of artificial intelligence is that the desktop will disappear entirely and users will only interact with a chatbot or a voice that will carry out their bidding through plain language alone, morphing the entire computer into an anthropomorphized character.
    Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 22 Oct. 2025
  • It can be enjoyed plain, sweetened, or with a squeeze of lemon.
    Jillian Kubala, Health, 22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Kam Patterson is funny here as the one unaffected participant, who curiously studied Gothic Literature!
    Andy Hoglund, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Tech contributions in this straight-on underslant are appropriately unaffected.
    Duane Byrge, HollywoodReporter, 19 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The Kinahans seemed to be acting out of pure rage.
    Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Always test the paint on a pure white backdrop so underlying colors don’t distort the white shade.
    Sophie Flaxman, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • When laundry day rolls around, simply throw the durable topper in the laundry with the rest of your bedding for easy maintenance and tumble dry with no heat.
    Maggie Horton, PEOPLE, 21 Oct. 2025
  • It will soon be connected to Oaxaca City next year for easy access.
    Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Trump isn’t naive and knows that Netanyahu has incentives to preserve electoral support by remaining a wartime leader.
    Faisal J. Abbas, semafor.com, 16 Oct. 2025
  • Gabber’s got this naive brutality to it.
    Alma Rota, Rolling Stone, 14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • But there are also Black folks who are ignorant of this.
    Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 21 Oct. 2025
  • The pilot has moments both sweet and funny, and sets up the possibility of romance amongst the characters, as well as further high jinks from a rotating cast of license seekers and citizens ignorant of the requirements for a Real ID.
    Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 11 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • And, in one of the dumbest and most obviously racist postr taken by a presidential candidate, at some point Republicans became fixated on the idea that Haitian migrants were stealing pets for food in the Midwest.
    Sal Rodriguez, Oc Register, 18 Oct. 2025
  • After Johnson gave his answer to that resolutely dumb question, several other luminaries took a whack at the zeitgeist piñata.
    Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • In a photo posted to her own Instagram, the proud mom showed off a silhouette of her bare baby bump in a mirror selfie.
    Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 17 Oct. 2025
  • The pair performed the record in its most bare form, trading verses back and forth before harmonizing together on the chorus.
    Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Simple.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/simple. Accessed 24 Oct. 2025.

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