Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense elaborates, present participle elaborating, past tense, past participle elaboratedpronunciation note: The adjective is pronounced (ɪlæbərət). The verb is pronounced (ɪlæbəreɪt).
1. adjective [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
You use elaborate to describe something that is very complex because it has a lot of different parts.
...an elaborate research project.
...an elaborate ceremony that lasts for eight days.
Synonyms: complicated, detailed, studied, laboured More Synonyms of elaborate
2. adjective [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
Elaborate plans, systems, and procedures are complicated because they have been planned in very great detail, sometimes too much detail.
...elaborate efforts at the highest level to conceal the problem.
...an elaborate management training scheme for graduates.
elaboratelyadverb
It was clearly an elaborately planned operation.
3. adjective [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
Elaborate clothing or material is made with a lot of detailed artistic designs.
He is known for his elaborate costumes.
Synonyms: ornate, detailed, involved, complex More Synonyms of elaborate
elaboratelyadverb
...elaborately costumed dolls.
4. verb
If you elaborate a plan or theory, you develop it by making it more complicated and more effective.
His task was to elaborate policies to make a market economy compatible with a cleanenvironment. [VERB noun]
...the plan elaborated by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: develop, improve, enhance, polish More Synonyms of elaborate
elaboration (ɪlæbəreɪʃən)uncountable noun
...the elaboration of specific policies and mechanisms. [+ of]
5. verb
If you elaborateon something that has been said, you say more about it, or give more details.
A spokesman declined to elaborate on a statement released late yesterday. [VERB + on]
Would you care to elaborate? [VERB]
Synonyms: expand upon, extend upon, enlarge on, amplify upon More Synonyms of elaborate
elaborate in British English
adjective (ɪˈlæbərɪt)
1.
planned or executed with care and exactness; detailed
2.
marked by complexity, ornateness, or detail
verb (ɪˈlæbəˌreɪt)
3. (intr; usually foll by on or upon)
to add information or detail (to an account); expand (upon)
4. (transitive)
to work out in detail; develop
5. (transitive)
to make more complicated or ornate
6. (transitive)
to produce by careful labour; create
7. (transitive) physiology
to change (food or simple substances) into more complex substances for use in the body
Derived forms
elaborately (eˈlaborately)
adverb
elaborateness (eˈlaborateness)
noun
elaboration (eˌlaboˈration)
noun
elaborative (ɪˈlæbərətɪv)
adjective
elaborator (eˈlaboˌrator)
noun
Word origin
C16: from Latin ēlabōrāre to take pains, from labōrāre to toil
elaborate in American English
(iˈlæbərɪt; ɪˈlæbərɪt; for v., iˈlæbərɪt; ɪˈlæbəˌreɪt)
adjective
1.
worked out carefully; developed in great detail
2.
highly wrought or ornamented; complicated
3.
painstaking
verb transitiveWord forms: eˈlaboˌrated or eˈlaboˌrating
4.
to produce by effort
5.
to work out carefully; develop in great detail
6.
to change (food or substances in the body) into compounds that can be assimilated, excreted, etc.