elucidate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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
- elucidation noun
- elucidative adjective
- elucidator noun
- nonelucidating adjective
- nonelucidative adjective
- unelucidated adjective
- unelucidating adjective
- unelucidative adjective
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; e- 1, lucid, -ate 1
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.
"There are many questions that we will only elucidate when we are able to go back," Grossi told reporters.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
On the West Coast, he found more “openness” and an “anything goes” ethos that saw the struggling artist move further into music as a means to elucidate and explore creativity.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 23, 2025
We chronicle, explicate, elucidate and constantly “re-adjudicate” historical events and personages.
From Salon • Jul. 30, 2024
The findings fit into D'Angelo's ongoing research to elucidate the critical responsibilities of NPCs in healthy cells and how alterations to them contribute to immune dysfunction and the development and progression of cancer.
From Science Daily • Jun. 6, 2024
Gene replication must explain how a multicellular organism emerges from a single cell—and errors in replication might elucidate how a spontaneous metabolic illness, or a devastating mental disease, might arise in a previously unaffected family.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
