expository

[ik-spoz-i-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]

See more synonyms for expository on Thesaurus.com

adjective

of the nature of exposition;exposition; serving to expound, set forth, or explain: an expository essay; expository writing.

Also ex·pos·i·tive

[ik-spoz-i-tiv] /ɪkˈspɒz ɪ tɪv/.

Origin of expository

From the Medieval Latin word expositōrius, dating back to 1590–1600. See expositor, -tory¹

Related formsex·pos·i·to·ri·ly, ex·pos·i·tive·ly, adverbsem·i·ex·pos·i·tive, adjectivesem·i·ex·pos·i·to·ry, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for expository

critical, explanatory, illustrative, informative, elucidative, exegetic, explicative, hermeneutic, interpretive, explicatory

Examples from the Web for expository

Historical Examples of expository

Talk should proceed by instances; by the apposite, not the expository.
The Pocket R.L.S.
Robert Louis Stevenson
But the specialist temperament is often not a generalizing and expository temperament.
First and Last Things
H. G. Wells
Interesting our expository writing must be; it must also be truthful.
Expository Writing
Mervin James Curl
Expository writing is commonly divided into Definition and Analysis.
Expository Writing
Mervin James Curl
That also was an expository sermon, as the best preaching so often is.
A Year in Europe
Walter W. Moore

British Dictionary definitions for expository

expository

expositive

adjective

of, involving, or assisting in exposition; explanatory

Derived Formsexpositorily or expositively, adverb

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

Word Origin and History for expository

adj.

1620s, from Medieval Latin expositorius, from expositus, past participle of exponere (see expound). Earlier in English as a noun meaning "an expository treatise, commentary" (early 15c.).