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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 Even the simplest medical tools. NPR, 8 Nov. 2025 But as Luria puts it, the bear case for CoreWeave is simple math. Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 8 Nov. 2025 The caption to the sultry images was a simple gray heart emoji. Angel Saunders, PEOPLE, 8 Nov. 2025 Democrats were trying to circumvent the normal legislative process by using a gimmick that only requires a simple majority. Matt Fleming, Oc Register, 8 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for simple
Recent Examples of Synonyms for simple
Adjective
  • Freshly caught fish often hang in plain sight, and the selection changes so frequently that a whiteboard keeps track of what’s available.
    Aaron Randolph, Travel + Leisure, 5 Nov. 2025
  • To create your own, write a name on a plain paper gift tag.
    Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • But in an interview with ABC News, United Airlines' chief customer officer, David Kinzelman, said most travelers will be unaffected by the small number of cancellations, and the airline is aiming to have the least amount of impact on its passengers.
    Ayesha Ali, ABC News, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Yahoo Newscontinued that when prey struck the web perpendicularly, the waves produced were unaffected by the stabilimenta.
    Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 2 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Obviously, this is pure speculation at this point in time.
    Evan Massey, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Nov. 2025
  • Rybakina is one of the purest ballstrikers on the tour, whose all-or-nothing game can veer from erratic to unplayable in the space of a few games.
    Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Its low ride height makes for easy entry and exit, while a small footprint makes parking a breeze.
    Mark Phelan, USA Today, 11 Nov. 2025
  • Doing so will also make organizing the fridge an easier task once you’re done.
    Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Ma’s description of enormous, glistening grocery stores could be explained as the musings of a person who longs for stability and plentitude, or of a naive character who thinks of America as a land of boundless riches.
    Tope Folarin, The Atlantic, 8 Nov. 2025
  • But these juvenile white sharks may be naive to orcas.
    Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • In fact, the term itself was an epithet throughout the founding era, a way to describe ignorant and easily deceived popular majorities, perpetually vulnerable to demagogues.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2025
  • International students are close to entirely ignorant of Canadian history and politics.
    Dónal Gill, The Dial, 28 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • As Legally Blonde's Elle Woods, Witherspoon charted a memorable path from dumb blonde to Harvard Law School graduate.
    Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Celebrities fight it out to be eliminated from the competition as quickly as possible to avoid being crowned the nation’s dumbest.
    Peter White, Deadline, 4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Several of the most striking photographs in the book are of the studio itself, which appears empty except for a pair of high heels reflected in a wall of mirrors or a rumpled military blanket, a favorite backdrop, pinned to a bare wall.
    Vince Aletti, New Yorker, 8 Nov. 2025
  • But as recently as two years ago, the Boston pitching cupboard was almost bare.
    Jon Vankin, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Nov. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Simple.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/simple. Accessed 21 Nov. 2025.

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