to elaborate

Examples

• All

• So let me elaborate on how this works.

• Students read or listened to each other's comments and elaborated on them in the class discussion.

  Academic text (2013)

• Could you elaborate on what that means?

• Well, would you elaborate on that?

  Love Child (1982)

• Sit down with ET and his friends as we elaborate on this principle.

• But this article does not elaborate on how to pay for reconstruction.

  Academic text (2013)

• There, I see an opportunity to elaborate on the journal entries.

  Academic text (2015)

• Follow-up telephone interviews were conducted when needed to clarify or elaborate on comments obtained in the first interview.

  Academic text (2008)

• Our present difficulties, she elaborated, trace to the VD screening we received on Wednesday.

  Fiction book (2001)

• Could you elaborate on what that means?

Synonyms

E

to explain

vsto elaborate

∞ 1.0

To make something clear by describing it in simple words

adds more detail and develops explanation beyond simple clarity

E

to expand

vsto elaborate

225 3.5

To add more details to explain something better

focuses on developing and explaining ideas more thoroughly

D

to detail

vsto elaborate

105 3.1

To describe something by giving many small facts

goes beyond listing facts to develop and deepen the explanation

I

to illuminate

vsto elaborate

51 4.8

To make something clear or easier to understand

focuses on adding further detail and development beyond mere clarity

S

to shed light on

vsto elaborate

26 3.9

To help people understand something by explaining it

adds additional detail and development rather than only shedding clarity

E

to expound

vsto elaborate

• Formal

20 7.3

Explain something in detail so people understand it

extends this clear presentation by developing and adding detail

F

to flesh out

vsto elaborate

15 4.0

To add more details to an idea, plan, or argument

adds further detail and develops the idea for fuller understanding

G

to go into detail

vsto elaborate

14 3.4

To explain something carefully and include all important points

adds connective detail and development rather than only exhaustive listing

E

to enlarge

vsto elaborate

12 3.7

To talk or write about something in more detail

emphasizes developing and expanding content rather than only explaining

E

to elucidate

vsto elaborate

• Formal

11 6.8

To explain something so it is easy to understand

adds more detail and develops ideas rather than only clarifying meaning

E

to explicate

vsto elaborate

• Formal

3 7.4

To explain something clearly in detail

adds extra detail and develops the idea beyond pure clarification

D

to dilate

vsto elaborate

• Formal

2 7.5

To talk or write for a long time about a subject

focuses on adding concrete detail and developing points rather than length

E

to expatiate

vsto elaborate

• Formal

1 9.9

To talk or write for a long time about a subject

aims to add useful detail and develop ideas, not only long discourse

E

to exposit

vsto elaborate

• Formal

8.6

To explain an idea or meaning in detail

is more general, adding details and development for any audience

L

to lucubrate

vsto elaborate

• Archaic

9.9

To write long, detailed pieces about difficult ideas

applies the same adding and development but is limited to scholarly writing

Antonyms

S

to simplify

99 2.5

Make something easier to understand or use

C

to condense

21 4.2

Make something shorter by removing unimportant details

A

to abridge

6.7

Make a book, play, or speech shorter by removing parts while keeping the main idea

Idioms

I

in an elaborate way

4.4

With many careful details and clear planning

How Detailed

to expound

• Formal

20 7.3

to elaborate

79 4.2

to describe

∞ 1.0

to explain

∞ 1.0

to state

∞ 1.6

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology