explain
Usage
What are other ways to say explain?
To explain is to make plain, clear, or intelligible something that is not known or understood: to explain a theory or a problem. To elucidate is to throw light on what before was dark and obscure, usually by illustration and commentary and sometimes by elaborate explanation: They asked him to elucidate his statement. To expound is to give a methodical, detailed, scholarly explanation of something, usually Scriptures, doctrines, or philosophy: to expound the doctrine of free will. To interpret is to give the meaning of something by paraphrase, by translation, or by an explanation based on personal opinion: to interpret a poem or a symbol.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This year when he was booked, the 31-year-old wowed the 90,000 crowd by turning referee Mark Clattenburg's card into flames - a trick he's still yet to explain.
From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026
“For me, I see it as an opportunity to explain to those people who may be ignorant,” he said.
From Slate • Apr. 19, 2026
These refuges may help explain Reid's Paradox -- how forests were able to spread so quickly across the region after the last Ice Age ended.
From Science Daily • Apr. 17, 2026
How to explain such a willful disregard for the way that people experience space?
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
I hate that I can’t find the words to explain what I know is true.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Vocabulary lists containing explain
PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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The SAT: Language of the Test, List 4
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