Synonym Chooser

How does the verb elucidate contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of elucidate are explain, explicate, expound, and interpret. While all these words mean "to make something clear or understandable," elucidate stresses the throwing of light upon as by offering details or motives previously unclear or only implicit.

elucidate an obscure passage

In what contexts can explain take the place of elucidate?

While the synonyms explain and elucidate are close in meaning, explain implies a making plain or intelligible what is not immediately obvious or entirely known.

explain the rules

When might explicate be a better fit than elucidate?

The meanings of explicate and elucidate largely overlap; however, explicate adds the idea of a developed or detailed analysis.

explicate a poem

When would expound be a good substitute for elucidate?

The words expound and elucidate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, expound implies a careful often elaborate explanation.

expounding a scientific theory

How are the words interpret and explain related as synonyms of elucidate?

Interpret adds to explain the need for imagination or sympathy or special knowledge in dealing with something.

interpreting a work of art

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of elucidate Nathan’s identity — as a comic, as a performer, as a Jewish person — all help to elucidate the broader flaws of sorting people into neat little boxes rather than respecting their capacity to be more than one thing. Ben Travers, IndieWire, 15 Apr. 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. Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2025 It’s not designed to explain or elucidate its massive collection of characters and concepts; it’s designed to flex on having them all at its disposal. Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2025 Chandel, now a mitochondrial biologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, has been working on elucidating mitochondrial signaling ever since. Viviane Callier, Quanta Magazine, 21 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for elucidate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for elucidate
Verb
  • The smaller budget is in part explained by the expiration of one-time spending that came as part of 2023’s more than $70 billion budget that raised spending by nearly 40%.
    Alex Derosier, Twin Cities, 7 June 2025
  • And as one dad recently shared on Reddit, the days of explaining things with talk of storks or other mythical tales are likely over.
    Christian Dashiell, Parents, 7 June 2025
Verb
  • Use these prompts to clarify thinking, then test insights through actual leadership situations.
    Sarah Hernholm, Forbes.com, 7 June 2025
  • While the wording from Van Duyne appeared to suggest that SBA funds would only be available to U.S. citizens, rather than businesses under foreign or undocumented ownership, the bill itself clarified that green card holders would be eligible to apply.
    Dan Gooding Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 June 2025
Verb
  • However, as one family’s experience illustrates, the story of the Great Wealth Transfer is far more complex.
    Joseph Coughlin, Forbes.com, 2 June 2025
  • To illustrate the scale of this complexity, Lin explains that there can be seemingly endless ticket combinations for trips between Los Angeles and London.
    Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 1 June 2025
Verb
  • Other journalists had excoriated McCarthy earlier, in print and on the radio, but Murrow met the medium and the moment in 1954, demonstrating the senator’s smear tactics and stirring a severe public backlash.
    Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 6 June 2025
  • Not least the fact that clubs other than City will be monitoring Gibbs-White’s position, with the 26-year-old England international having demonstrated his value emphatically again during a season in which Forest pushed for a top-five finish for many months.
    Paul Taylor, New York Times, 6 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Elucidate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elucidate. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.

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