| / English Dictionary |
SIMPLE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A person lacking intelligence or common sense
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("simple" is a kind of...):
individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "simple"):
twerp; twirp; twit (someone who is regarded as contemptible)
subnormal (a person of less than normal intelligence)
dolt; dullard; pillock; poor fish; pudden-head; pudding head; stupe; stupid; stupid person (a person who is not very bright)
lame; square (someone who doesn't understand what is going on)
space cadet (someone who seems unable to respond appropriately to reality (as if under the influence of some narcotic drug))
sheep (a timid defenseless simpleton who is readily preyed upon)
schnook; shnook ((Yiddish) a gullible simpleton more to be pitied than despised)
schlep; schlepper; shlep; shlepper ((Yiddish) an awkward and stupid person)
schlemiel; shlemiel ((Yiddish) a dolt who is a habitual bungler)
forgetful person; scatterbrain (a flighty and disorganized person)
nincompoop; ninny; poop (a stupid foolish person)
nebbech; nebbish ((Yiddish) a timid unfortunate simpleton)
idiot savant (person who is mentally retarded in general but who displays remarkable aptitude in some limited field (usually involving memory))
changeling; cretin; half-wit; idiot; imbecile; moron; retard (a person of subnormal intelligence)
fool; muggins; sap; saphead; tomfool (a person who lacks good judgment)
boob; booby; dope; dumbbell; dummy; pinhead (an ignorant or foolish person)
dingbat (a silly empty-headed person)
dimwit; doofus; half-wit; nitwit (a stupid incompetent person)
airhead (a flighty scatterbrained simpleton)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Any herbaceous plant having medicinal properties
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("simple" is a kind of...):
herb; herbaceous plant (a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests)
Domain usage:
archaicism; archaism (the use of an archaic expression)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Easy and not involved or complicated
Example:
found an uncomplicated solution to the problem
Synonyms:
elementary; simple; uncomplicated; unproblematic
Classified under:
Similar:
easy (posing no difficulty; requiring little effort)
Derivation:
simpleness; simplicity (freedom from difficulty or hardship or effort)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Apart from anything else; without additions or modifications
Example:
the simple truth
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
plain (not elaborate or elaborated; simple)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Unornamented
Example:
her black dress--simple to austerity
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
plain (not elaborate or elaborated; simple)
Derivation:
simpleness; simplicity (lack of ornamentation)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Lacking mental capacity and subtlety
Synonyms:
dim-witted; simple; simple-minded
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
retarded (relatively slow in mental or emotional or physical development)
Derivation:
simpleness (a lack of penetration or subtlety)
Sense 5
Meaning:
(botany) of leaf shapes; of leaves having no divisions or subdivisions
Synonyms:
simple; unsubdivided
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
three-needled ((of conifers) having three needles)
four-needled ((of conifers) having four needles)
five-needled ((of conifers) having five needles)
obtuse ((of a leaf shape) rounded at the apex)
oblanceolate ((of a leaf shape) having a broad rounded apex and a tapering base)
oblong ((of a leaf shape) having a somewhat elongated form with approximately parallel sides)
obovate ((of a leaf shape) egg-shaped with the narrower end at the base)
orbicular; orbiculate (circular or nearly circular)
ovate (of a leaf shape; egg-shaped with the broader end at the base)
fiddle-shaped; pandurate; panduriform ((of a leaf shape) having rounded ends and a contracted center)
peltate; shield-shaped ((of a leaf shape) round, with the stem attached near the center of the lower surface rather than the margin (as a nasturtium leaf for example))
perfoliate ((of a leaf) having the base united around (and apparently pierced by) the stem)
kidney-shaped; reniform ((of a leaf or bean shape) resembling the shape of kidney)
arrow-shaped; sagittate; sagittiform ((of a leaf shape) like an arrow head without flaring base lobes)
spatula-shaped; spatulate ((of a leaf shape) having a broad rounded apex and a narrow base)
unlobed (without lobes)
acerate; acerose; acicular; needle-shaped (narrow and long and pointed; as pine leaves)
acuminate ((of a leaf shape) narrowing to a slender point)
apiculate ((of a leaf shape) having a short sharply pointed tip)
caudate ((of a leaf shape) tapering gradually into a long taillike tip)
cordate; cordiform; heart-shaped ((of a leaf) shaped like a heart)
cuneate; wedge-shaped ((of a leaf shape) narrowly triangular, wider at the apex and tapering toward the base)
deltoid (triangular or suggesting a capital delta, with a point at the apex)
dolabrate; dolabriform (having the shape of the head of an ax or cleaver)
elliptic ((of a leaf shape) in the form of an ellipse)
bladelike; ensiform; sword-shaped; swordlike (shaped like a sword blade)
hastate; spearhead-shaped ((of a leaf shape) like a spear point, with flaring pointed lobes at the base)
lancelike; lanceolate ((of a leaf shape) shaped like a lance head; narrow and tapering to a pointed apex)
elongate; linear ((of a leaf shape) long and narrow)
lyrate ((of a leaf shape) having curvature suggestive of a lyre)
needled (of trees whose leaves are acerate)
two-needled ((of conifers) having two needles)
Also:
smooth (of the margin of a leaf shape; not broken up into teeth)
simple (having few parts; not complex or complicated or involved)
Domain category:
botany; phytology (the branch of biology that studies plants)
Antonym:
compound (composed of more than one part)
Derivation:
simplicity (the quality of being simple or uncompounded)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Having few parts; not complex or complicated or involved
Example:
a simple substance
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
simplex (having only one part or element)
simplistic (characterized by extreme and often misleading simplicity)
unanalyzable; undecomposable (representing the furthest possible extent of analysis or division into parts)
uncomplicated; unsophisticated (lacking complexity)
Also:
easy (posing no difficulty; requiring little effort)
plain (not elaborate or elaborated; simple)
simple; unsubdivided ((botany) of leaf shapes; of leaves having no divisions or subdivisions)
Attribute:
complexity; complexness (the quality of being intricate and compounded)
Antonym:
complex (complicated in structure; consisting of interconnected parts)
Derivation:
simpleness; simplicity (the quality of being simple or uncompounded)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Exhibiting childlike simplicity and credulity
Example:
listened in round-eyed wonder
Synonyms:
childlike; dewy-eyed; round-eyed; simple; wide-eyed
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
naif; naive (marked by or showing unaffected simplicity and lack of guile or worldly experience)
Derivation:
simpleness; simplicity (a lack of penetration or subtlety)
Context examples:
The phenyl ester of para-aminosalicylic acid, reported to have less side effects than simple salts of para-aminosalicylic acid.
(Phenyl Aminosalicylate, NCI Thesaurus)
The process of producing oligonucleotides by the union of simpler chemical compounds.
(Oligonucleotide Synthesis, NCI Thesaurus)
It may involve simple changes in a person's diet, or intravenous or tube feeding.
(Nutritional Therapy, NCI Dictionary)
A carbohydrate which cannot be reduced to smaller units by hydrolysis; it is the simplest structural form of a carbohydrate.
(Monosaccharide, NCI Thesaurus/CRCH)
In her simple words, too, the same balm-like emotion spoke: "Try to eat."
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Of course you must have been surprised, but the explanation is very simple.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It is a simple matter to see the obvious, to do the expected.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
I had to learn my tools to begin with, and every simple mechanical principle which such a man would have at his finger ends I had likewise to learn.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
I confess that I cannot recall any case within my experience which looked at the first glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
But it isn’t always that simple.
(Striped maple trees often change mating types, with females more likely to die, National Science Foundation)
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