plain meaning
What's explicitly stated
Plain meaning is the ordinary, straightforward sense of words as they would be understood by a typical reader or listener.
The term appears most often in legal contexts, where the plain meaning rule holds that statutes should be interpreted according to their literal wording rather than legislative intent or other external factors.
More broadly, to take something at its plain meaning is to read it without searching for hidden significance: The plain meaning of "no" is no.
- literalMeaning exactly what's said
- straightforwardClear and uncomplicated
- obviousEasily perceived, unmistakable
- clearWithout obstruction or fog
- on the noseExactly accurate or correct
simple · direct · straight talk · unadorned · bare · no frills · ordinary · unembellished · face value · explicit · basic · cut and dried · black and white · common · evident · transparent · blunt · stark
- literalismliteralism, verbatim, word-for-word, denotation, exactness
- legal interpretationoriginalism, textualism, historical interpretation, literal interpretation, textual analysis
- legal termstrial, legal, appeal, lawsuit, law
- judicial reviewjudicial review, constitutional review, mandamus, prohibition, judicial oversight
plain meaninghidden meaning
Unspoken message beneath surface
figurative meaning · symbolic meaning · metaphorical meaning · implied meaning · deeper meaning
plain, plainly, plainness, plains, plainer, plainest, meaning, mean, means