explicate

[ ek-spli-keyt ]

/ ˈɛk splɪˌkeɪt /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: explicate / explicator on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), ex·pli·cat·ed, ex·pli·cat·ing.

to make plain or clear; explain; interpret.

to develop (a principle, theory, etc.).

QUIZ

SPRINT TO THE FINISH WITH THIS OLYMPICS QUIZ!

Compete in our Olympics quiz to see if you can take home the gold medal in Olympics knowledge.

Question 1 of 10

Where was the Olympics first held?

ancient Rome

ancient Greece

ancient Persia

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Origin of explicate

1525–35; <Latin explicātus unfolded, set forth, past participle of explicāre, equivalent to ex-ex-¹ + plicāre to fold; see -ate¹

OTHER WORDS FROM explicate

ex·pli·ca·tor, nounre·ex·pli·cate, verb (used with object), re·ex·pli·cat·ed, re·ex·pli·cat·ing.un·ex·pli·cat·ed, adjectivewell-ex·pli·cat·ed, adjective

Words nearby explicate

explementary angle, expletive, explicable, explicandum, explicans, explicate, explication, explication de texte, explicative, explicit, explicit function

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use explicate in a sentence

The homespun charms and lyrically explicated anguishes of their musical make their door one you’ll want to knock on, again.
Give this folk rock duo 27 minutes. They’ll give you a musically heartbreaking world.|Peter Marks|March 18, 2021|Washington Post
To further explicate the obvious: “Uncommon”—i.e., adulterous—“arrangements vary hugely.”
Do We Need a Guide to Marriage?|Chloë Schama|January 8, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Science takes as its province mechanical causes, and leaves formal and final causes to the philosopher to explicate.
A Critical History of Greek Philosophy|W. T. Stace
An attempt to explicate them from the congruity and incongruity of Bodies: what those proprieties are.
Micrographia|Robert Hooke

We have merely to explicate the idea of intelligent spirit possessing being in its plenitude.
The Catholic World. Volume III; Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.|E. Rameur
But Marie say there is the miss understand in our letters she cannot explicate.
Deer Godchild|Marguerite Bernard and Edith Serrell
Whether, if so, this will not explicate the Phnomena of the Clouds.
Micrographia|Robert Hooke

British Dictionary definitions for explicate

explicate

/ (ˈɛksplɪˌkeɪt) /

verb (tr) formal

to make clear or explicit; explain

to formulate or develop (a theory, hypothesis, etc)

Derived forms of explicate

explicative (ɪkˈsplɪkətɪv) or explicatory (ɪkˈsplɪkətərɪ, -trɪ), adjectiveexplicator, noun

Word Origin for explicate

C16: from Latin explicāre to unfold, from plicāre to fold

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

explicate

Origin of explicate

OTHER WORDS FROM explicate

Words nearby explicate

Words related to explicate

How to use explicate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for explicate

Derived forms of explicate

Word Origin for explicate