| Main Entry: | explicate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | clarify, expand |
Synonyms: |
amplify, clear up, construe, demonstrate, develop, dilate, elucidate, enlarge upon, enucleate, expatiate, explain, expound, give the big picture, illustrate, interpret, make clear, make explicit, make plain, run down, spell out, tell why, unfold, untangle, work out |
| 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: |
cloud, complicate, confuse, mystify, obscure, tangle |
| Main Entry: | comment |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | make statement of opinion, explanation |
Synonyms: |
affirm, animadvert, annotate, assert, bring out, clarify, commentate, conclude, construe, criticize, disclose, elucidate, explain, explicate, expound, express, gloss, illustrate, interject, interpose, interpret, mention, note, notice, observe, opine, pass on, point out, pronounce, reflect, remark, say, state, touch upon |
Antonyms: |
keep quiet, refrain |
| Main Entry: | construe |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | deduce; explain |
Synonyms: |
analyze, decipher, define, explicate, expound, figure it to be, infer, interpret, one's best guess, parse, read, render, spell out, take, translate, understand |
| Main Entry: | describe |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | explain in speech, writing |
Synonyms: |
call, characterize, chronicle, communicate, construe, convey image, define, delineate, depict, detail, distinguish, draw, elucidate, epitomize, exemplify, explicate, expound, express, illuminate, illustrate, image, impart, interpret, label, limn, make apparent, make clear, make sense of, make vivid, mark out, name, narrate, outline, paint, particularize, picture, portray, recite, recount, rehearse, relate, report, represent, sketch, specify, state, tell, term, trace, transmit, write up |
Antonyms: |
confuse, misrepresent, mix up |
| Main Entry: | develop |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | unfold; be made known |
Synonyms: |
account for, acquire, actualize, disclose, disentangle, elaborate, evolve, exhibit, explain, explicate, foretell, form, materialize, produce, reach, realize, recount, state, uncoil, uncover, unfurl, unravel, unroll, untwist, unwind |
| Main Entry: | elucidate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | explain in detail |
Synonyms: |
annotate, clarify, clear, clear up, decode, demonstrate, draw a picture, enlighten, exemplify, explicate, expound, get across, gloss, illuminate, illustrate, interpret, make perfectly clear, make plain, make see daylight, prove, shed light on, spell out, throw light on, unfold |
Antonyms: |
be vague, confuse, distract, make ambiguous, mix up, mystify, obscure |
| Main Entry: | expand |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | extend, augment |
Synonyms: |
aggrandize, amplify, beef up, bloat, blow up, bolster, broaden, bulk up, burgeon, detail, develop, diffuse, dilate, distend, elaborate, embellish, enlarge, explicate, fan out, fatten, fill out, grow, heighten, hike, increase, inflate, lengthen, magnify, mount, multiply, mushroom, open, open out, outspread, pad, piggyback, prolong, protract, puff up, pyramid, slap on, soup up, spread, spread out, stretch, stretch out, swell, tack on, thicken, unfold, unfurl, unravel, unroll, upsurge, wax, widen |
Antonyms: |
abbreviate, contract, lessen, lower, shorten, shrink |
| Main Entry: | explain |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | make clear; give a reason for |
Synonyms: |
account for, analyze, annotate, break down, bring out, clarify, clear up, construe, decipher, define, demonstrate, describe, diagram, disclose, elucidate, excuse, explicate, expound, get across, go into detail, illustrate, interpret, justify, make plain, manifest, paraphrase, point out, put across, put in plain English, rationalize, read, refine, render, resolve, reveal, set right, solve, spell out, teach, tell, throw light upon, translate, unfold, unravel, untangle |
| 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: |
be vague, complicate, confuse, mystify, obscure, perplex |
| Main Entry: | expound |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | talk about in great detail |
Synonyms: |
clarify, comment, construe, delineate, describe, discourse, elucidate, enucleate, exemplify, explain, explicate, express, illustrate, interpret, present, set forth, spell out, state, unfold |
| Main Entry: | interpret |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | make sense of; define |
Synonyms: |
adapt, annotate, clarify, comment, commentate, construe, decipher, decode, delineate, depict, describe, elucidate, enact, exemplify, explain, explicate, expound, gather, gloss, illustrate, image, improvise, limn, make of, mimic, paraphrase, perform, picture, play, portray, read, reenact, render, represent, solve, spell out, take*, throw light on, translate, understand, view |
Antonyms: |
misinterpret, misunderstand |