explicate

play

verb ex·pli·cate \ ˈek-splə-ˌkāt \

Definition of explicate

explicated; explicating

transitive verb

1 :to give a detailed explanation of

2 :to develop the implications of :analyze logically

—

explication

play \ˌek-splə-ˈkā-shən\ noun

—

explicator

play \ˈek-splə-ˌkā-tər\ noun

See explicate defined for English-language learners

See explicate defined for kids

Examples of explicate in a Sentence

an essay explicating a theory
the physicist did his best to explicate the wave theory of light for the audience of laymen

Recent Examples of explicate from the Web

Each of the dozen circus acts is nominally inspired by a tarot card, cursorily explicated by the show's cunningly naive hostess, Divinity Price.

— Chicago Reader, "Triassic Parq: The Musical, A Fool’s Journey, and five more new stage shows to see (or avoid)," 26 July 2017
But the term’s meaning was (and remains) opaque and has never been fully explicated.

— vanityfair.com, "Inside the Secret, Strange Origins of Steve Bannon’s Nationalist Fantasia," 17 July 2017
But the term’s meaning was (and remains) opaque and has never been fully explicated.

— joshua green, The Hive, "Inside the Secret, Strange Origins of Steve Bannon’s Nationalist Fantasia," 17 July 2017
His particular focus was in explicating the thoughts of the great Chinese sage Confucius as they were interpreted over the centuries.

— douglas martin, New York Times, "Wm. Theodore de Bary, Renowned Columbia Sinologist, Dies at 97," 17 July 2017
On the other hand, a sense of privacy and inscrutability is intrinsic to the experience of reading him: An Ashbery whose work had been fully explicated wouldn’t be Ashbery at all.

— evan kindley, New Republic, "The Mysteries of John Ashbery," 17 July 2017
Writer-director Robin Swicord falls back on Doctorow's words to explicate the content, providing few inventive visual ideas, which wouldn't be a problem if the language Swicord was working with were musical or otherwise pleasurable to hear.

— ben sachs, Chicago Reader, "Books / Film E.L. Doctorow’s ‘Wakefield’ should have stayed on the page," 16 June 2017
President Lyndon B., Johnson’s tough tactics, memorialized in hundreds of White House tapes and explicated in Robert Caro’s majestic biography of a president who relished power, have become the stuff of legend.

— marc fisher, Washington Post, "Trump’s tools of persuasion — from tough talk to polite cajoling," 7 June 2017
In his dispassionate HAL-like voice, David explicates his feelings of android superiority to ordinary humans.

— soren andersen, The Seattle Times, "‘Alien: Covenant’ review: Ridley Scott’s latest delivers the scares," 15 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'explicate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of explicate

Latin explicatus, past participle of explicare, literally, to unfold, from ex- + plicare to fold — more at ply

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1531

See Words from the same year

explicate Synonyms

Synonyms

clarify, clear (up), construe, demonstrate, demystify, elucidate, explain, expound, get across, illuminate, illustrate, interpret, simplify, spell out, unriddle

Antonyms

obscure

Related Words

decipher, decode; analyze, break down; disentangle, undo, unravel, unscramble, untangle; resolve, solve; define, specify; annotate, commentate, gloss

Near Antonyms

befog, cloud; confound, confuse, obfuscate

Synonym Discussion of explicate

explain, expound, explicate, elucidate, interpret mean to make something clear or understandable. explain implies a making plain or intelligible what is not immediately obvious or entirely known.