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simple

adjective

Simple meaning

Easy to understand or do, not complex

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

simpuhl

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈsɪmpəl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Uncomplicated; lacking complexity; taken by itself, with nothing added.

  2. headingtechnical

    Structurally uncomplicated.

  3. Easy; not difficult.

  4. Without ornamentation; plain.

  5. Using steam only once in its cylinders, in contrast to a compound engine, where steam is used more than once in high-pressure and low-pressure cylinders. (of a steam engine)

  6. (category theory, of an object in a category with a terminal object) Being non-isomorphic to the terminal object, and such that its only quotient objects (up to isomorphism) are the terminal object and itself.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Uncomplicated; lacking complexity; taken by itself, with nothing added.

Used this way, simple is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Confusing or complicated
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use simple

  • “He gave a simple explanation that everyone could easily understand.”adjective

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

relatively simplesimple mattersimple examplesimple reasonsimple factsimple formsimple modelsimple method

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • simplyadverbDerived adverb

    And nothing more.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • simple fruitnounCompound term

    An indehiscent fruit derived from a single ovary having one or many seeds within a fleshy wall or pericarp: e.g. grape.

  • simple harmonic motionnounCompound term

    Periodic motion in which the restoring force is proportional to the displacement.

  • simple interestnounCompound term

    Interest paid on the principal alone.

  • simple leafnounCompound term

    A leaf that is not divided into parts.

  • simple machinenounCompound term

    A device for overcoming resistance at one point by applying force at some other point.

  • simple mastectomynounCompound term

    Removal of a breast leaving the underlying muscles and the lymph nodes intact.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • simplicitynounRelated term

    The quality of being simple or uncompounded.

  • simplifyverbRelated term

    Make simpler or easier or reduce in complexity or extent.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: uncomplicated

simplifiedunsophisticated

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.