elucidate
Usage
What are other ways to say elucidate?
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 explain is to make plain, clear, or intelligible something that is not known or understood: to explain a theory or a problem. 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.
See Examples For:
But before the officer could elucidate a satisfying response, agents drove up and surrounded Zemian and Amundson’s vehicle.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Members of Congress will want Warsh to elucidate his plans for bringing inflation down to the Fed’s 2% target.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 11, 2026
"There are many questions that we will only elucidate when we are able to go back," Grossi told reporters.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2026
For those who might unfortunately view that video and wonder what the hell he’s talking about, let me elucidate: Johnson is trying to get podcaster Joe Rogan to fight him.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2025
Which is of course idiotic in the kind of profound and multivalent way that only an English teacher could fully elucidate.
From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan
“Beauty of the Beasts” elucidates their true role in nature.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
On a Zoom chat from Paris, Debicki elucidates further.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2024
"This study elucidates the contribution of physical forces in immune evasion and underscores the importance of targeting pathogen movement to combat intracellular infections," Yu said.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 1, 2023
She elucidates the myths and stories we tell about our lupine fears in ferocious and beautiful writing.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 28, 2023
The history of the text of this long and intricate Enlil liturgy elucidates in unusual manner the evolution of Sumerian prayer books until they attained canonical and permanent form.
From Sumerian Liturgies and Psalms by Stephen Langdon
“The Devil Wears Prada” was a heaping dose of wish-fulfillment, but it was also the very movie that carefully and artfully elucidated the values of magazines and fashion, emphasizing the art form of both.
From Salon ● May 6, 2026
Still, the impressive power of the book club might have been better elucidated if details about its impact in other Eastern Bloc countries were brought into the story.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2025
But the specific pathways by which the virus does so are still being elucidated, and curative treatments are nonexistent.
From Salon ● Mar. 12, 2024
Now, a team at HZB led by Prof. Alexander Föhlisch has elucidated the influence of the electronic structure on the stability of fumarate, maleate and succinate dianions.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 7, 2024
The style of teaching was Socratic in nature; ideas and theories were elucidated through the leaders asking and answering questions.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
The most elucidating superimposes a Pietà by Anne-Louis Girodet, David’s little-known pupil, over David’s “Marat.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025
McPherson takes liberties, setting the play in 1900 central Ukraine and, perhaps more consequently, elucidating the psychology where Chekhov was a tad more ambiguous.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2025
As a writer and director, Baker has dedicated much of his career to elucidating the subtleties of figures like Ani who are often relegated to the background.
From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2024
In response, scientists at Texas A&M AgriLife Research are elucidating the ways that bacteria-infecting viruses disarm these pathogens and ushering in the possibility of novel treatment methods.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 15, 2024
Instead she heard her mother, Euphrosyne Stephanides, speaking in this very cocoonery years ago, elucidating the mysteries of silkworms—“To have good silk, you have to be pure,” she used to tell her daughter.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Vocabulary lists containing elucidate
Let There Be Light: Lum and Luc
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To Kill a Mockingbird
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 16–19
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