“Plainer” or “Planar” or “Planer”—Which to use?

“Plainer” or “Planar” or “Planer”

Overview

plainer / planar / planer are similar-sounding terms with different meanings (referred to as homophones). To better understand the differences, see below for definitions, pronunciation guides, and example sentences using each term. 👇

Definitions

plainer: (adjective) not elaborate or elaborated; simple. (adjective) lacking patterns especially in color. (adjective) not mixed with extraneous elements. (adjective) free from any effort to soften to disguise. (adjective) lacking embellishment or ornamentation.

planar: (adjective) involving two dimensions.

planer: NA

Pronunciation

plainer: p·l·EY·n·er

planar: p·l·EY·n·er

planer: p·l·EY·n·er

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Examples in Context

Examples of “plainer”

…scales of inner margin are plainer.
…to give it a flatter, plainer appearance with changes to a…
…State Coach, it is much plainer than some of the other…

Examples of “planar”

…and laterally continuous with undeformed planar strata.
Planar symmetry groups
…and for constructing separators of planar graphs.
…Fu and S. Wallace "Quantitative planar laser-induced fluorescence imaging of multi-component…
List of uniform planar tilings
…have a slightly curved, roughly planar aligned and elevated handlebar, providing…
…the Wnt pathways (particularly in planar cell polarity related functions such…
…value is ~125°, while a planar nitrogen like that of formamide…
…Educational software to create spherical, planar and hyperbolic tilings
…electron withdrawing groups are more planar.

Examples of “planer”

…with his first wife Minna Planer at 13 Zeltweg, Zürich, and…
Nigel Planer – Lord Cardigan

(Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license. Definitions drawn from WordNet.)

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