explicitly

[ik-splis-it-lee]

adverb

1. in a way that is clearly expressed, demonstrated, or formulated.

   There are a couple of important points that I wish had been made more clearly and explicitly.

   We should also explicitly advocate for ourselves when it comes to promotions or raises.

2. in a way that is direct or precise; specifically.

   Women and underrepresented minorities are explicitly invited to apply.

3. in a graphic or detailed way; not leaving anything to the imagination.

   The art to be displayed cannot include explicitly sexual scenes, nudity, or salacious or revealing imagery.

Other Word Forms

• overexplicitly adverb
• quasi-explicitly adverb
• superexplicitly adverb
• unexplicitly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of explicitly¹

explicit ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

This paragraph explicitly says the war is over, which sets the scene for future discussions on later stages of the president's plan for Gaza.

Read more on BBC

This makes for great reading, even though it explicitly notes when a long quote is actually a paraphrase.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He explicitly asserted that he was permitted to “consider acquitted conduct.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

All the men he recruited on chatrooms "were told she would be drugged", Pelicot said, adding he had explicitly told Dogan he was looking for "someone to abuse my sleeping wife without her knowledge".

Read more on BBC

Two of the most successful of these—Netflix’s “Fauda” and Apple TV+’s “Tehran”—deal explicitly with the Middle Eastern conflict.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• absolutely 
• altogether 
• carefully 
• completely 
• correctly www.thesaurus.com
• definitely 
• indeed 
• literally 
• precisely 
• quite 
• specifically 
• strictly 
• totally 
• truly