plaintext

noun

plain·​text ˈplān-ˌtekst How to pronounce plaintext (audio)
: the intelligible form of an encrypted text or of its elements compare ciphertext

Examples of plaintext in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Yep, a whopping great database packed full of plaintext passwords, email addresses, and usernames all sitting there unprotected, in plaintext, for anyone to use. Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 23 May 2025 Each record included an ID tag for the type of account, a URL for each website or service, and then usernames and plaintext passwords. Matt Burgess, Wired News, 22 May 2025 Despite GitHub’s efforts to prevent such credential leakage, the sprawl of these plaintext secrets is worsening, not improving. Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025 Microsoft also seems to have fixed the single largest problem with Recall: previously, all screenshots and the entire text database were stored in plaintext with zero encryption. ArsTechnica, 21 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for plaintext

Word History

First Known Use

1918, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of plaintext was in 1918

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Cite this Entry

“Plaintext.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plaintext. Accessed 2 Jun. 2025.

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