explicate
verb
transitive verb
Synonyms
- clarify
- clear (up)
- construe
- demonstrate
- demystify
- elucidate
- explain
- expound
- get across
- illuminate
- illustrate
- interpret
- simplify
- spell out
- unriddle
Example Sentences
Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 31 Aug. 2022 This passage epitomizes Hickey’s unusual relationship to literature and his uncanny ability to draw forward an aspect of a poem or novel to explicate an artwork without reducing either to mere illustration. Jarrett Earnest, The New York Review of Books, 8 June 2022 The truth is, no one can fully explicate why Kipchoge is the GOAT. Amby Burfoot, Outside Online, 21 Aug. 2021 The truth is, no one can fully explicate why Kipchoge is the GOAT. Amby Burfoot, Outside Online, 21 Aug. 2021 The truth is, no one can fully explicate why Kipchoge is the GOAT. Amby Burfoot, Outside Online, 21 Aug. 2021 The truth is, no one can fully explicate why Kipchoge is the GOAT. Amby Burfoot, Outside Online, 21 Aug. 2021 The truth is, no one can fully explicate why Kipchoge is the GOAT. Amby Burfoot, Outside Online, 21 Aug. 2021 The truth is, no one can fully explicate why Kipchoge is the GOAT. Amby Burfoot, Outside Online, 21 Aug. 2021 See More Word History
borrowed from Latin explicātus, past participle of explicō, explicāre "to free from folds or creases, unroll, disentangle, spread out, set out in words, give an account of," from ex- ex- entry 1 + plicāre "to fold, bend" — more at ply entry 3
1531, in the meaning defined at sense 1
explicate
verb
Synonyms & Similar Words
- explain
- clarify
- illustrate
- demonstrate
- elucidate
- interpret
- simplify
- construe
- illuminate
- expound
- demystify
- analyze
- unriddle
- define
- spell out
- get across
- decipher
- resolve
- solve
- specify
- clear (up)
- unravel
- disentangle
- decode
- untangle
- unscramble
- annotate
- undo
- gloss
- break down
- commentate
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- obscure
- confuse
- confound
- cloud
- obfuscate
- befog
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of explicate are elucidate, explain, expound, and interpret. While all these words mean "to make something clear or understandable," explicate adds the idea of a developed or detailed analysis.
The words elucidate and explicate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, elucidate stresses the throwing of light upon as by offering details or motives previously unclear or only implicit.
Although the words explain and explicate have much in common, explain implies a making plain or intelligible what is not immediately obvious or entirely known.
In some situations, the words expound and explicate are roughly equivalent. However, expound implies a careful often elaborate explanation.
Interpret adds to explain the need for imagination or sympathy or special knowledge in dealing with something.