plainclothes
Americanadjective
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"For example, the faces, voices, and names of undercover officers conducting operations in plainclothes are not obscured," the complaint alleges.
From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026
Within minutes, several agents — in plainclothes and some wearing vests that read “Police” — surrounded him.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 23, 2025
Despite their plainclothes attire, U.S. troops are conspicuous as they wander around Rzeszów with big grins that are very un-Eastern European.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 27, 2025
The checkpoints, some manned by RSF fighters and others by Arab militia, are sometimes overseen by just one armed man in plainclothes, who demands a fee.
From BBC • Oct. 25, 2025
When the West Indian plainclothes detective, Joe Baker, came in, I was waiting.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
