explain
Americanverb (used with object)
-
explains,
present (3rd person singular)
-
explained,
past participle, past
-
explaining
present participle
-
to make plain or clear; render understandable or intelligible.
to explain an obscure point.
- Synonyms:
- explicate
- Antonyms:
- confuse
-
to make known in detail.
to explain how to do something.
-
to assign a meaning to; interpret.
How can you explain such a silly remark?
-
to make clear the cause or reason of; account for.
I cannot explain his strange behavior.
- Synonyms:
- justify
verb (used without object)
-
explains,
present (3rd person singular)
-
explained,
past participle, past
-
explaining
present participle
verb phrase
verb
-
(when tr, may take a clause as object) to make (something) comprehensible, esp by giving a clear and detailed account of the relevant structure, operation, surrounding circumstances, etc
-
(tr) to justify or attempt to justify (oneself) by giving reasons for one's actions or words
Usage
What are other ways to say explain?
To explain something is to make it plain or clear, or to render it understandable or intelligible. How does explain compare to synonyms elucidate, expound, and interpret? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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explainernoun
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explanatornoun
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overexplainverb
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preexplainverb
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reexplainverb (used with object)
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explainableadjective
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misexplainedadjective
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nonexplainableadjective
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unexplainableadjective
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unexplainedadjective
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unexplainingadjective
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well-explainedadjective
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unexplainablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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explainsimple
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explainssimple
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have explainedperfect
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has explainedperfect
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am explainingprogressive
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are explainingprogressive
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is explainingprogressive
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have been explainingperfect progressive
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has been explainingperfect progressive
Past
-
explainedsimple
-
had explainedperfect
-
was explainingprogressive
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were explainingprogressive
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had been explainingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of explain
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English explanen, from Latin explānāre “to smooth out, make intelligible, spread out on flat surface”; see origin at ex- 1, plane 1
Explanation
To explain something is to define it, show how it works, or just tell what it is. Explaining helps people understand. If you know football really well, then you could probably explain it to a non-fan. Explaining makes things clearer. A lot of teaching is explaining — telling how something works. Also, if you do something wrong, people will ask you to explain your actions. Explaining can help someone "get it" — whatever "it" is.
Vocabulary lists containing explain
PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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The SAT: Language of the Test, List 4
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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:
It's hard to explain to anyone what he has suffered and what he is still suffering, because who else can really understand?
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
"We explain how our sector works. There's a great deal of integrity in this profession. Otherwise, you don't last long."
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
Harbor resonance, in which the shape of a basin reinforces the water's oscillations, helped explain why neighboring ports experienced different effects.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
Words can only explain so much about what it is like to visit these memorials, or to touch them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
When I’d started asking questions, he’d always taken the time to explain the workings of the shop.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
The Five Ps weren’t so much a lesson in the Mosley household as “a lifestyle,” father Emmett Mosley explains.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
"The charge a droplet acquires as it slides depends heavily on the specific surface -- we measured differences of up to a factor of ten," explains Zhongyuan Ni, the study's first author.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
"That means for a company like us that you have to work with different sources of funding at the same time," Rood explains.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
Alex Kirshner explains why Michigan’s latest controversy has spectators contemplating the nature of time itself.
From Slate ● Sep. 10, 2026
No one explains that a crush isn’t fun but is actually named for its ability to destroy.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
“It’s for a class on the Holocaust,” she explained.
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026
"I explained to the kids what happened was not normal and they knew already," he says.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Willis explained the audition process, saying they had to do a "chemistry test" to see how they interacted as a group.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
So ingratiating, in fact, that one takes one’s seat at one’s peril, as will be explained.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
She briskly explained how to manage a crowd of customers getting on and off various floors and going in different directions.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
"I didn't know he had made the trip," Cabilan said, explaining she only found out later from his wife.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
Her sister wrote her a letter explaining why she could not come to their wedding, describing "terrible nightmares" and the worry that she would never see her again.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
Holding there risks putting Warsh back where July left him, explaining a decision with an unsatisfying rationale—the problem his Jackson Hole speech resolved.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Jacobs could recognize the architect’s hallmark design elements showcased in the home, explaining: “The house was living proof of Wright’s hallmark Usonian principle, emphasizing a close connection between a structure and its surrounding environment.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
“Fischer had a gun to our heads,” he later said, explaining the abrupt termination of one of the most important American chess matches ever played.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
