without any frills
- idiom
:
sin adornos
- The presentation was without any frills, delivering the essential information clearly and concisely.
Examples
-
Thus, he forced his interlocutor to retreat to one of two corners: either to forgo any wish he might have had immediately and withdraw into himself, or to say what he wanted immediately, short and to the point, without any frills.
Fiction book (1998) -
She prefers her clothing to be without any frills, opting for simple and functional designs.
-
The recipe was designed to be without any frills, focusing only on basic ingredients.
Synonyms
220
1.0
Plain and without decoration
208
1.0
Simple and not decorated or flavored
99
3.7
Something that is easy to understand and clear
23
5.0
Calm and simple in style without showy details
18
6.4
Short and clear, using only a few words
18
3.2
Easy to understand or deal with
16
5.4
Very simple and with few details in art, design, or music
15
2.7
Simple and plain without anything special or expensive
12
4.0
Quick and pleasant without extra detail, often about a talk or message
8
7.2
Having a simple style with no extra decoration
6
4.2
Very simple, with only the basic parts that are needed
5
3.8
Simple and basic without extra services or decoration
5
4.0
Free of extra things and distractions, simple and tidy
1
4.2
Easy to please and not needing much care
1
5.8
Plain and simple in appearance without extra decoration
Being very simple and having only the basic parts
Has a plain, simple style and is not expensive
Plain and simple, not expensive or decorated
Antonyms
- Literature
26
7.0
Using long, fancy words and complicated sentences that make writing hard to follow
How Fancy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'simple and straightforward; lacking unnecessary extras' is directly and transparently derived from 'without' (absence) + 'any' (non-specific quantifier) + 'frills' (decorative extras). This is a straightforward compositional negation+noun pattern common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Without any frills comes from the word frills, meaning small decorative ruffles or extra bits on clothes and objects. So, if something is without any frills, it is 'simple' and has 'no extras'.