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Glite Dictionary
demand for explanation

demand for explanation

3.9
A strong request asking someone to explain or justify their words and actions
  • noun
translation icon : exigencia de explicación
  • A sudden demand for explanation from the board caught the manager off guard.

Examples

  • There was a demand for explanation after the controversial decision.

  • The senator faced a demand for explanation after her controversial comments at the conference.

  • When mistakes were discovered, there was an immediate demand for explanation from the shareholders.

  • The teacher faced a demand for explanation regarding the new grading policy.

  • The teacher received numerous demand for explanation regarding the unclear test instructions.

  • After the meeting, there were several demand for explanation about the new policy changes.

  • She faced a demand for explanation from her colleagues concerning the unexpected results of the project.

Antonyms

acceptance
104 2.7

Being approved or welcomed by other people

indifference
71 4.6

Lack of interest or concern about something

How Insistent

to call to account
  • Formal
3 6.0
demand for explanation
3.9
query
35 3.7

Surface Forms

demand for explanation singular
demands for explanation plural

Morphology

demand + for + explanation

The meaning is directly compositional: 'demand' (an assertive request) combined with the preposition 'for' and 'explanation' (an account that clarifies) yields a request insisting on clarification. This follows a common, cross-linguistic noun + prepositional phrase pattern and would be predictable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.

Etymology

Demand for explanation comes from the clear image of someone firmly asking 'Why?': the bold demand shows force and the explanation is the answer they want. That's why it means 'an insistence that someone clarify or justify what they did'.