elaboration

American  

[ih-lab-uh-ray-shuhn] / ɪˌlæb əˈreɪ ʃən /

noun

• elaborations
  plural

1. an act or instance of elaborating.

2. the state of being elaborated; elaborateness.

3. something that is elaborated.

4. 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.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• self-elaboration
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• elaborations
  plural

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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”; see elaborate) + -iō -ion

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Explanation

Elaboration means "adding details." Kids are famous for answering "good" when asked how school was and "nothing" when asked what they did there. If pressed for elaboration, they might talk about recess, lunch, and even what they learned. Elaboration is the result of going that extra mile, such as when your history teacher asks for five paragraphs on the Fall of Rome, and you write three pages, or when your friend, instead of giving you a regular birthday card, creates a mini-scrapbook with photos and mementos from the past year. As you can see, elaboration takes time and energy because you go into greater detail than usual.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

elaboration elaborations

Roberts wondered whether that phrasing itself suggested confusion, either by counsel or by the trial judge, about whether the objection was then being made or merely marked for later elaboration.

From Slate ● Apr. 10, 2026

Fortunately, clear skies will bless BTS for the live event, although Netflix’s Mussman admits without elaboration, “There was a rain plan.”

From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2026

In her introduction, the translator Anne McKnight presents “Long Take” as an elaboration on “Something Like an Autobiography,” the filmmaker’s 1981 memoir.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026

“We want it back,” he said without further elaboration.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2025

The place was put together, given life, sustained into today’s version of its maturity and prepared for further elaboration and changes in its complexity, by what can only be described as a bunch of people.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

He acknowledged that speculation about a lab leak is not in itself a conspiracy theory, but that doesn’t go for the elaborations that many of its adherents have made of it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2024

"These results help us understand the evolutionary history of horns and antlers and could suggest that differences in other ruminant cranial appendages, like ossicones and pronghorns, are also elaborations on a shared ancestral cranial appendage."

From Science Daily ● May 20, 2024

While trained within the confines of Rampur style - which focused on intricate rhythmic play, fast elaborations and a full-throated throw of voice - Rashid, like most greats, transcended its boundaries.

From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2024

His elaborations are elegant, persuasive and come to a surprisingly feminist conclusion — that female desire shaped evolution.

From New York Times ● Dec. 7, 2017

The directness of his questions and his subsequent elaborations threw her.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead

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Related Words

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