Related Searches
on Ask.com
Nearby Entries
explain - 20 thesaurus results
| Main Entry: | explain |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | make clear; give a reason for |
| Synonyms: | account for, analyze, annotate, bring out, clarify, clear up, construe, decipher, define, demonstrate, describe, diagram, disclose, elucidate, excuse, explicate, expound, get across*, illustrate, interpret, justify, manifest, paraphrase, point out, rationalize, read, refine, render, resolve, reveal, solve, spell out*, teach, tell, translate, unfold, unravel, untangle, break down, go into detail, make plain, put across, put in plain English, set right, throw light upon |
| Notes: | explicate also contains the implication that the something of which an account is being given is more complicated or detailed - so while one may explain why a child is crying, one would explicate the meaning of a poem or implications of a legal document; early senses of explain were 'smooth out' and 'spread flat' |
| Antonyms: | complicate, confuse, mystify, obscure, perplex, be vague |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | account for |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | give reason for |
| Synonyms: | clarify, elucidate, explain, justify, resolve |
| Main Entry: | annotate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | write explanatory notes |
| Synonyms: | comment, construe, define, elucidate, explain, expound, footnote, gloss, illustrate, interpret, note, remark, commentate |
| Main Entry: | brief |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | inform of facts |
| Synonyms: | abridge, advise, apprise, edify, enlighten, epitomize, explain, fill in, inform, initiate, instruct, orient, prepare, prime, recapitulate, summarize, update, give rundown, give the lowdown, let in on, show the lay of the land, show the ropes, tip off |
| Antonyms: | hide, secret |
| Main Entry: | come clean |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | tell the truth |
| Synonyms: | admit, confess, explain, reveal, spill, acknowledge information, confess all, implicate oneself, incriminate oneself, make clean breast, own up |
| Antonyms: | hide, hold, secret |
| Main Entry: | comment |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | make statement of opinion, explanation |
| Synonyms: | affirm, annotate, assert, bring out, clarify, conclude, construe, criticize, disclose, elucidate, explain, explicate, expound, express, gloss, illustrate, interject, interpose, interpret, mention, note, notice, observe, opine, point out, pronounce, reflect, remark, say, state, animadvert, commentate, pass on, touch upon |
| Antonyms: | refrain, keep quiet |
| Main Entry: | decipher |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | figure out, understand |
| Synonyms: | analyze, break, bring out, cipher, construe, crack, decode, deduce, disentangle, elucidate, explain, expound, interpret, make out, read, render, reveal, solve, spell, translate, unfold, unravel, break down, dope out, encipher, find the key, make clear, puzzle out, unriddle |
| Antonyms: | code, encode, scramble |
| Main Entry: | discourse |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | discuss, speak about |
| Synonyms: | argue, chew*, comment, confer, converse, debate, declaim, descant, develop, dispute, elaborate, enlarge, expand, expatiate, explain, expound, harangue, lecture, modulate, orate, perorate, remark, talk, treat, voice, commentate, confab, dilate upon, dissert, dissertate, give a meeting, hold forth, sermonize |
| Antonyms: | be quiet |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | discuss |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | talk over with another |
| Synonyms: | argue, canvass, confer, consider, contend, contest, converse, debate, deliberate, descant, dispute, examine, explain, figure, get together, go into, jaw*, moot, review, sift, take up, ventilate, weigh, altercate, bounce off, compare notes, confabulate, consult with, discept, discourse about, dissert, dissertate, exchange views on, groupthink, hash over, hold forth, kick about, knock around, put heads together, reason about, thrash out*, toss around* |
| Antonyms: | be quiet |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | educate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | teach information, experience |
| Synonyms: | brainwash*, brief, civilize, coach, cultivate, develop, discipline, drill, drum into, edify, enlighten, exercise, explain, foster, improve, indoctrinate, inform, instruct, mature, nurture, rear, school, train, tutor, let in on, put hip, put through the grind, show the ropes |
| Antonyms: | learn |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | elaborate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | make detailed; expand |
| Synonyms: | amplify, bedeck, clarify, comment, complicate, deck, decorate, develop, devise, discuss, embellish, enhance, enlarge, evolve, expatiate, explain, expound, garnish, improve, interpret, ornament, polish, produce, refine, specify, unfold, work out, flesh out, particularize |
| Antonyms: | simplify, make simple |
| Main Entry: | exculpate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | forgive |
| Synonyms: | absolve, acquit, amnesty, clear, condone, discharge, dismiss, excuse, exonerate, explain, free, justify, let off*, pardon, rationalize, release, remit, vindicate, disculpate, wipe slate clean |
| Antonyms: | blame, condemn, sentence |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | excuse |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | forgive, absolve; justify |
| Synonyms: | acquit, alibi, appease, bear with, clear, condone, cover, defend, discharge, exculpate, exempt, exonerate, explain, extenuate, forgive, free, indulge, let off*, liberate, mitigate, overlook, pardon, pass over*, pretext, purge, rationalize, release, relieve, remit, reprieve, shrive, shrug off, spare, tolerate, vindicate, whitewash*, apologize for, dispense from, exempt from, give absolution, grant amnesty, let go, make allowances for, plead ignorance, take rap for, wink at* |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | explicate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | clarify, expand |
| Synonyms: | amplify, clear up, construe, demonstrate, develop, dilate, elucidate, expatiate, explain, expound, illustrate, interpret, run down, spell out*, unfold, untangle, work out, enlarge upon, enucleate, give the big picture, make clear, make explicit, make plain, tell why |
| Antonyms: | cloud, complicate, confuse, mystify, obscure, tangle |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | expound |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | talk about in great detail |
| Synonyms: | clarify, comment, construe, delineate, describe, discourse, elucidate, exemplify, explain, explicate, express, illustrate, interpret, present, spell out, state, unfold, enucleate, set forth |
| Main Entry: | interpret |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | make sense of; define |
| Synonyms: | adapt, annotate, clarify, comment, construe, decipher, decode, delineate, depict, describe, elucidate, enact, exemplify, explain, explicate, expound, gather, gloss, illustrate, image, improvise, limn, mimic, paraphrase, perform, picture, play, portray, read, render, represent, solve, spell out, take*, translate, understand, view, commentate, make of, reenact, throw light on |
| Antonyms: | misinterpret, misunderstand |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | justify |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | legitimize, substantiate |
| Synonyms: | absolve, acquit, advocate, alibi*, answer for, approve, assert, bear out, brief, claim, clear, condone, confirm, contend, cop a plea, countenance, crawl, defend, establish, exculpate, excuse, exonerate, explain, favor, legalize, maintain, palliate, pardon, plead, rationalize, rebut, square, support, sustain, uphold, validate, verify, vindicate, warrant, apologize for, argue for, be answerable for, do justice to, make allowances, make good, show cause, speak in favor, stand up for |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | prove |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | establish facts; put to a test |
| Synonyms: | affirm, analyze, ascertain, assay, attest, authenticate, back, bear out, certify, check, confirm, convince, corroborate, declare, demonstrate, determine, document, end up, evidence, evince, examine, experiment, explain, find, fix, justify, manifest, pan out*, result, settle, show, substantiate, sustain, test, testify, trial, try, turn out, uphold, validate, verify, warrant, witness, add up, have a case, make evident, show clearly, show once and for all |
| Antonyms: | discredit, disprove, theorize, hypothesize |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | recite |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | read out loud; narrate |
| Synonyms: | account for, address, answer, chant, communicate, convey, declaim, delineate, deliver, describe, detail, discourse, dramatize, enact, enlarge, enumerate, expatiate, explain, impart, interpret, itemize, mention, parrot*, perform, picture, portray, quote, recapitulate, recount, rehearse, relate, render, repeat, reply, report, speak, state, tell, utter, give a report, give an account, give verbal account, hold forth, reel off, retell, soliloquize |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | simplify |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | make easy, intelligible |
| Synonyms: | abridge, analyze, chasten, clarify, clear up, cut down, decipher, disentangle, elucidate, explain, facilitate, interpret, lay out, order, reduce, shorten, spell out, boil down, break down, break it down, clean it up, clean up, cut the frills, disinvolve, draw a picture, get down to basics, get to the meat, hit the high spots, let daylight in, let sunlight in, make clear, make perfectly clear, make plain, put in a nutshell, put one straight, streamline, unscramble |
| Antonyms: | complicate, confuse, make difficult |
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2009 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
