MEANING
Treating a complex matter as simple by ignoring important factors, distinctions, or difficulties.
Use it for
criticizing an explanation that leaves out crucial factors; distinguishing clarity from oversimplification; challenging a false either-or accountCriticizes an explanation for omitting necessary complexity, not for being clearly or simply expressed. Academic functions: Analysis / Interpretation.
Words that belong together
- a simplistic explanation
- a simplistic dichotomy
- an overly simplistic account
On the page
A simplistic opposition between tradition and modernity obscures the novel’s internal tensions.
Attributing unemployment solely to individual effort gives a simplistic account of structural constraints.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- simplistic
Usage notes
Attributive or predicative; more simplistic and most simplistic are natural. Register: neutral. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
Keep a thought for later. Sign in to save privately.