Synonym Chooser

How does the verb elucidate contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of elucidate are explain, explicate, expound, and interpret. While all these words mean "to make something clear or understandable," elucidate stresses the throwing of light upon as by offering details or motives previously unclear or only implicit.

elucidate an obscure passage

In what contexts can explain take the place of elucidate?

While the synonyms explain and elucidate are close in meaning, explain implies a making plain or intelligible what is not immediately obvious or entirely known.

explain the rules

When might explicate be a better fit than elucidate?

The meanings of explicate and elucidate largely overlap; however, explicate adds the idea of a developed or detailed analysis.

explicate a poem

When would expound be a good substitute for elucidate?

The words expound and elucidate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, expound implies a careful often elaborate explanation.

expounding a scientific theory

How are the words interpret and explain related as synonyms of elucidate?

Interpret adds to explain the need for imagination or sympathy or special knowledge in dealing with something.

interpreting a work of art

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of elucidate Nathan’s identity — as a comic, as a performer, as a Jewish person — all help to elucidate the broader flaws of sorting people into neat little boxes rather than respecting their capacity to be more than one thing. Ben Travers, IndieWire, 15 Apr. 2025 McPherson takes liberties, setting the play in 1900 central Ukraine and, perhaps more consequently, elucidating the psychology where Chekhov was a tad more ambiguous. Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2025 It’s not designed to explain or elucidate its massive collection of characters and concepts; it’s designed to flex on having them all at its disposal. Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2025 Chandel, now a mitochondrial biologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, has been working on elucidating mitochondrial signaling ever since. Viviane Callier, Quanta Magazine, 21 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for elucidate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for elucidate
Verb
  • But in the late 19th century, Finkelstein explained, women who'd worked as nurses during the Civil War, even though not part of the Union or Confederate armies, lobbied for and won the right to be buried at Arlington.
    Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 27 May 2025
  • Here, again, the English translation fails to capture the historical and cultural connotations of the Persian, Bahari explained.
    Robin Wright, New Yorker, 26 May 2025
Verb
  • But there’s a difference between using AI to clarify your message and asking it to invent your story.
    Dr. Aviva Legatt, Forbes.com, 25 May 2025
  • Lawmakers in both chambers are advancing bills such as the GENIUS Act and the STABLE Act, aimed at defining stablecoins and clarifying disclosure rules.
    Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 24 May 2025
Verb
  • However, as one family’s experience illustrates, the story of the Great Wealth Transfer is far more complex.
    Joseph Coughlin, Forbes.com, 2 June 2025
  • To illustrate the scale of this complexity, Lin explains that there can be seemingly endless ticket combinations for trips between Los Angeles and London.
    Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 1 June 2025
Verb
  • But hundreds of thousands of Israelis demonstrate against the war each week, demanding the government agrees a ceasefire deal to release all the hostages still held in the strip.
    Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 24 May 2025
  • In November 2024, Russia demonstrated the capabilities of its own hypersonic missile with an attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, going on television shortly afterwards to boast about the weapons capabilities.
    Peter Aitken, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Elucidate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elucidate. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.

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