elaboration
Americannoun
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an act or instance of elaborating.
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the state of being elaborated; elaborateness.
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something that is elaborated.
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Psychiatry. an unconscious process of expanding and embellishing a detail, especially while recalling and describing a representation in a dream so that latent content of the dream is brought into a logical and comprehensible order.
Other Word Forms
- self-elaboration noun
Etymology
Origin of elaboration
First recorded in 1570–80; from Latin ēlabōrātiōn-, stem of ēlabōrātiō, from ēlabōrāt(us) “worked out” (past participle of ēlabōrāre “to work out, produce through labor”; elaborate ) + -iō -ion
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.
Little elaboration is necessary regarding the Miracle Mets of ’69.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026
Lilly did not respond to a request for elaboration on the point.
From Barron's • Nov. 17, 2025
It does not seek the new, but demands endless repetition of the same themes, merely with greater elaboration, gaudier technical effects and greater expense.
From Salon • Aug. 9, 2025
My response to “how’s work” has often dwindled to a simple “fine,” without much elaboration.
From Slate • Oct. 31, 2024
In elaboration, a single event is first described in a generic way and then in specific detail.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
