elucidate
Americanverb (used with object)
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elucidates,
present (3rd person singular)
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elucidated,
past participle, past
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elucidating
present participle
verb (used without object)
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elucidates,
present (3rd person singular)
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elucidated,
past participle, past
-
elucidating
present participle
verb
Usage
What are other ways to say elucidate?
To elucidate something is to throw light upon it or make it clear. How does elucidate compare to synonyms explain, expound, and interpret? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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elucidationnoun
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elucidatornoun
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elucidativeadjective
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nonelucidatingadjective
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nonelucidativeadjective
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unelucidatedadjective
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unelucidatingadjective
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unelucidativeadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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elucidatesimple
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elucidatessimple
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have elucidatedperfect
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has elucidatedperfect
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am elucidatingprogressive
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are elucidatingprogressive
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is elucidatingprogressive
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have been elucidatingperfect progressive
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has been elucidatingperfect progressive
Past
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elucidatedsimple
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had elucidatedperfect
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was elucidatingprogressive
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were elucidatingprogressive
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had been elucidatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of elucidate
First recorded in 1560–70; from Late Latin ēlūcidātus “enlightened” (past participle of ēlūcidāre ), equivalent to ē- intensive prefix + lūcid(us) “bright, shining, clear, clear to the understanding” + -ātus adjective suffix; see origin at e- 1, lucid, -ate 1
Explanation
If you elucidate something, you explain it very clearly. If you don't understand fractions, a visit to the pie shop may elucidate the subject for you. Elucidate, meaning "to make clear," is from the Late Latin elucidare, from the Latin prefix e-, "thoroughly," and lucidus, "clear, bright." See the word lucid in elucidate? That's an adjective which describes someone who thinks clearly or something that is clear enough to understand.
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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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
As such, they “require urgent attention, and additional monitoring experiments and epidemiological studies are needed to further elucidate the relevant mechanisms,” the authors warn.
From Salon ● Jan. 2, 2025
He became the world’s foremost authority on thermodynamics and the first to elucidate the principles of the convection of fluids and the circulation of ocean currents.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
In a collection of his reviews, “Big Screen, Little Screen,” I was struck by the way he elucidates the alchemy of Page’s acting.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
“Beauty of the Beasts” elucidates their true role in nature.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
This knowledge elucidates why Gadd "was very keen for Martha to be layered."
From Salon ● Apr. 27, 2024
This work, published in the journal Cell, elucidates the complexities of centriole assembly.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 10, 2024
We have put it forward because it just elucidates both our subject and the characteristics of Mr. Browning.
From English Critical Essays Nineteenth Century by Edmund David Jones
“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
Using this combined approach, the team elucidated the key components of the plant's dispersal strategy:
From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2024
In a first, the team precisely replicated the complex geometry of these particles, called brochosomes, and elucidated a better understanding of how they absorb both visible and ultraviolet light.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 18, 2024
The region’s transformation from fertile woodland to eroded scrub or desert has been elucidated by paleobotanists and archaeologists.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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
Their ineptitude complicates the journey, elucidating misconnections and cross-cultural exchanges.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2025
"MR-SPI is particularly valuable for elucidating causal relationships in complex diseases like Alzheimer's, where traditional approaches struggle," Liu explained.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 4, 2024
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
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
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.
