Meanings
- not comparablesimileSynonym of plain as day.
―Don't you know he's dead? says Joe. / ―Paddy Dignam dead! says Alf. / ―Ay, says Joe. / ―Sure I'm after seeing him not five minutes ago, says Alf, as plain as a pikestaff. / ―Who's dead? says Bob Doran. / ―You saw his ghost then, says Joe, God between us and harm.
1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 12: Cyclops]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLCSynonyms: plain as day
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveSynonym of plain as day.
Origin
The word "pikestaff" in this expression is a corruption of packstaff (“the staff used to carry a bundle over the shoulder”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Italian chiaro come il sole
- chiaro come il soleextremely clear and plain to see
Latvian skaidrs kā diena
- skaidrs kā dienaextremely clear and plain to see
Cite this entry
plain as a pikestaff. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plain%20as%20a%20pikestaff
“plain as a pikestaff.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plain%20as%20a%20pikestaff. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “plain as a pikestaff,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plain%20as%20a%20pikestaff.
Source: plain as a pikestaff on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.