plain language
Accessible everyday speech
Plain language is communication designed to be understood on first reading.
It favors short sentences, common words, and direct structure over jargon, legalese, or bureaucratic complexity.
Government agencies and businesses use plain language to make documents accessible: The contract was rewritten in plain language.
The goal is clarity, not simplicity for its own sake.
- layman's termsNon-specialist phrasing
- readabilityEase of understanding text
- concisenessQuality of being brief
- clarityState of being understandable
- straightforwardClear and uncomplicated
in simple terms · clear writing · straight talk · usability · spell it out · demystify · effectiveness · directness · vernacular · common parlance · reader-friendly · non-technical · no frills · fine print · dumbing down · efficiency · simplify · translate
- language reformspelling reform, prescriptivism, phonetic spelling, simplification, romanization
- candorfrankness, directness, bluntness, candor, straightforwardness
- plain languagesimple English, simple words, simple grammar, simple sentences, layman's terms
- simplificationsimplification, simplifying, simplify, condensing, simplified
- easy readingeasy readers, early readers, simple English, large print, picture books
- simplified guidesbeginner guides, primers, basics, fundamentals, introductions
plain languagelegalese
Attorneys' technical jargon
jargon · gobbledygook · technical language · bureaucratese · technobabble
plain languagedoublespeak
Deliberately misleading language
obfuscation · doubletalk · weasel words · euphemism · coded language
plain languagepurple prose
Overly elaborate, emotional writing
florid prose · ornate prose · grandiloquence · bombast · overwrought prose
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