elaborate

American  

[ih-lab-er-it, ih-lab-uh-rayt] / ɪˈlæb ər ɪt, ɪˈlæb əˌreɪt /

adjective

1. 

   worked out with great care and nicety of detail; executed with great minuteness.

   elaborate preparations; elaborate care.

   Synonyms:

   painstaking

   Antonyms:

   simple

2. marked by intricate and often excessive detail; complicated; ornate.

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verb (used with object)

• elaborates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• elaborated,
  past participle,  past
• elaborating
  present participle

1. to work out carefully or minutely; develop to perfection.

   Synonyms:

   improve, refine

2. to add details to; expand.

3. to produce or develop by labor.

4. Physiology. to convert (food, plasma, etc.) by means of chemical processes into a substance more suitable for use within the body.

verb (used without object)

• elaborates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• elaborated,
  past participle,  past
• elaborating
  present participle

1. to add details in writing, speaking, etc.; give additional or fuller treatment (usually followed by on orupon ).

   to elaborate upon a theme or an idea.

   Synonyms:

   improve, refine

elaborate British  

/ ɪˈlæbərətɪv /

adjective

1. planned or executed with care and exactness; detailed

2. marked by complexity, ornateness, or detail

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verb

1. (intr; usually foll by on or upon) to add information or detail (to an account); expand (upon)

2. (tr) to work out in detail; develop

3. (tr) to make more complicated or ornate

4. (tr) to produce by careful labour; create

5. (tr) physiol to change (food or simple substances) into more complex substances for use in the body

Synonym Usage

Elaborate, labored, studied apply to that which is worked out in great detail. That which is elaborate is characterized by great, sometimes even excessive, minuteness of detail: elaborate preparations for a banquet. That which is labored is marked by excessive, often forced or uninspired, effort: a labored style of writing. That which is studied is accomplished with care and deliberation, and is done purposely, sometimes even having been rehearsed: a studied pose.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• elaborateness
  noun
• elaboration
  noun
• elaborator
  noun
• nonelaborateness
  noun
• superelaborateness
  noun
• unelaborateness
  noun
• elaborative
  adjective
• nonelaborate
  adjective
• nonelaborating
  adjective
• nonelaborative
  adjective
• quasi-elaborate
  adjective
• self-elaborated
  adjective
• superelaborate
  adjective
• unelaborate
  adjective
• unelaborated
  adjective
• well-elaborated
  adjective
• elaborately
  adverb
• nonelaborately
  adverb
• quasi-elaborately
  adverb
• superelaborately
  adverb
• unelaborately
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• elaborating
  present
• elaborated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• elaborate
  simple
• elaborates
  simple
• have elaborated
  perfect
• has elaborated
  perfect
• am elaborating
  progressive
• are elaborating
  progressive
• is elaborating
  progressive
• have been elaborating
  perfect progressive
• has been elaborating
  perfect progressive

Past

• elaborated
  simple
• had elaborated
  perfect
• was elaborating
  progressive
• were elaborating
  progressive
• had been elaborating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will elaborate
  simple
• will have elaborated
  perfect
• will be elaborating
  progressive
• will have been elaborating
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of elaborate

First recorded in 1575–85; from Latin ēlabōrātus (past participle of ēlabōrāre ) worked out, equivalent to ē- intensive prefix + labōr- “work” + -ātus adjective suffix; see e- ¹, -ate ¹

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Explanation

Use the adjective elaborate when you want to describe how something is very detailed or especially complicated, like a devilish prank planned out weeks in advance. The adjective elaborate is used to describe when something is planned with a lot of attention to detail or when something is intricate or detailed itself. The word comes from the Latin elaborare, which means "to produce by labor" but it has come to mean a lot of labor, especially work that is very complicated and precise. To imagine this word, think of a painting with lots of flourishes or a story with many sub-plots and characters that all fit together in extensive ways.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

elaborate elaborates elaborated elaborating

Fielder, whose series “Nathan for You” and “The Rehearsal” put real people through elaborate, often uncomfortable experiments, began to wonder whether the tables had been turned.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

A Taliban government spokesman said the BBC had been suspended because of "repeated violations" but did not elaborate.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Mammals have a more elaborate hyoid structure that allows them to swallow even when gravity is working against them.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

At the moment, groundbreaking AI bots—when they aren’t actively plotting civilization’s demise—are composing elaborate symphonies and solving knotty, generations-old math problems.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

I placed his full food dish on the feeding mat at the end of the elaborate obstacle course.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

Later, he elaborates more fully on the genius of her portrayal.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026

Of the new album, one of its highlights is the buoyant corrido “Terca,” which elaborates on a short story in the memoir about Venegas’ move to Mexico City.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026

When questioned on this by her guest, Queer Eye's Tan France, she elaborates on what she likes to cook.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2025

"In our devices, electrons propagate in two opposite directions within the same nanoscale space and without scattering," Dr Barrier elaborates.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2024

A note elaborates that Tío Alejandro was the one who used to own English saddle horses and taught you four girls to ride.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

Mr. Varadarajan elaborated that Ms. Tisch “has been a prominent administrator in the city since February 2014, when she became the NYPD’s deputy commissioner for information technology.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Davis elaborated further on his role in his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

Prominent figures in the late 1980s and early 1990s elaborated on that argument in books and talk-show appearances.

From Slate ● Jun. 2, 2026

He elaborated a little, calling lidar the wrong solution for self-driving cars, pointing out that humans drive with eyes and a brain, which is fundamentally Tesla’s approach to self-driving technology.

From Barron's ● May 4, 2026

“About Cap Anderson,” I elaborated, “and everything that’s been going on.”

From "Schooled" by Gordon Korman

"America.gov will continue to be updated to provide Americans the most accurate and reliable federal information and resources," a White House official said in a statement to AFP, without elaborating.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

At Sunday’s deployment ceremony, Kim said North Korea was carrying out an important plan to strengthen its naval forces and vowed to prove this to the world in eight months, without elaborating on the plan.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

"It's a difficult situation," she said, adding that the US federal government was "helping us out", without elaborating.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

"He is at the intensive care unit. He was admitted last evening and his condition is being managed," she added, without elaborating.

From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026

Joe, conscious of the kids watching him over the rims of their Dixie cups, found himself elaborating on the things he remembered fondly.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

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