mindmap root((平凡)) plain stresses lack of anything such as ornamentation or affectation likely to catch the attention: a ~ house on a quiet street; or it may suggest elegance: the furnishings were ~ with very simple classic lines; or frugality: she sets a ~ but abundant table; or, with reference to personal appearance, lack of positive beauty that does not go to the extreme of ugliness: drawn to that ~ and kindly face. homely may suggests easy familiarity or comfortable informality without ostentation: a comfortable ~ room; in application to personal appearance, it implies something between plain and ugly: a ~ mutt. simple very close to plain in its references to situations and things, may stress personal choice as the source of the quality described: lived a ~ life; and regularly connotes lack of complication or ostentation: gave a ~, straightforward answer to the question. unpretentious stresses lack of vanity or affectation and may praise a person: a soft-spoken and ~ person; but in reference to a thing may convey either praise or depreciation: an ~ and battered old car.