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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 Holmes finished the look with a simple necklace, oversized sunglasses, and white sneakers. Jamie Allison Sanders, PEOPLE, 27 Sep. 2025 The four-ingredient item can dress up so many dishes and simple ingredients. Cameron Beall, Southern Living, 27 Sep. 2025 Versions of these resources existed in the first game but were much simpler. Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 27 Sep. 2025 Hall, however, said because the proposal does not alter the existing excise tax, only a simple majority is needed to adopt the wholesale tax. Arpan Lobo, Freep.com, 27 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for simple
Recent Examples of Synonyms for simple
Adjective
  • Music industry machinations are mostly to blame; a higher supply of albums means more sales, which translates into chart performance and popularity and plain old checks to cash.
    Heather Bushman, IndyStar, 1 Oct. 2025
  • The locker rooms and antechambers behind the scenes are drab and plain.
    Richard Lawson, Rolling Stone, 1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Stockholders will receive $210 per share, representing a 25 per cent premium on share price at market close on September 25 — the final unaffected trading day, before reports of a deal surfaced.
    Ali Rampling, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
  • Advertisement Fish seem unaffected as well.
    Matt Fuchs, Time, 29 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • According to the post, detectives seized one pound of pure fentanyl, which police said is enough to kill around 225,000 people.
    Caroline Neal, Louisville Courier Journal, 29 Sep. 2025
  • At the same time, monochrome looks in pure black or white dominated, showing the season’s full contrasts.
    Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 29 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • But finding a good financial advisor isn't easy.
    Kate Dore, CFP®, EA,Kelli Grant, CFP®, CNBC, 1 Oct. 2025
  • The 44-year-old driver led the race for an impressive 159 laps, and a win seemed like an easy thing to achieve.
    Saajan Jogia, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Wahlberg plays a holy fool in Boogie Nights, our naïve but well-endowed guide through the heyday of theatrical pornography and its decline into something cheaper and tawdrier courtesy of the triumph of VHS.
    Alison Willmore, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2025
  • The passions and dreams that drove the movement can seem inchoate, naïve, and contradictory.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • So what will our ignorant commissioner do with the information?
    Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 28 Sep. 2025
  • But criticism quickly began to pile in on Chinese social media, where users denounced the advertising stunt as ignorant of the potential environmental impacts in a remote and pristine ecosystem.
    Chris Lau, CNN Money, 22 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Free speech covers the jokes, the satire, the parodies—even the dumb, crass, or offensive ones.
    Lizz Winstead, Time, 27 Sep. 2025
  • On the flipside, Kimmel, like everyone else with a boss, is not protected against saying dumb stuff and getting fired.
    Matt Fleming, Oc Register, 25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Now is the time to step in and weed, dethatch, lime, fertilize, aerate, and reseed bare patches in cool-season lawns.
    Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 27 Sep. 2025
  • Meanwhile, her lips were left bare and untouched as if an earlier color had faded.
    Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 26 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Simple.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/simple. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

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