explicitly

adverb

ex·​plic·​it·​ly ik-ˈspli-sət-lē 

: in an explicit manner : clearly and without any vagueness or ambiguity

We were explicitly warned about what could happen.

The map shows explicitly where the fire alarms are located.

… did not know about the ferrying of weapons to the rebels, an activity explicitly forbidden by Congress.

—Neil A. Lewis

Examples of explicitly in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Whether or not the signaling is explicitly intended by the US military or administration, the message is likely to be unsettling, to say the least, for Cuban officials. —Avery Schmitz, CNN Money, 10 May 2026

The fantasy of a sunny, suburban Los Angeles was explicitly an automobile-centric one—there was no room for the Red Cars. —Oren Peleg, New Yorker, 9 May 2026

In fact, Sartre explicitly wrote that in other contexts the same scapegoating purpose could be served by Black or Asian people. —Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 8 May 2026

What’s more, the trade lawyers said, the CIT’s Thursday decision applies only to the plaintiffs in the case, explicitly eschewing a universal injunction that would prompt Customs and Border Protection to refund all importers who paid the 10 percent duties over the past several months. —Kate Nishimura, Footwear News, 8 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

explicit + -ly entry 2

First Known Use

circa 1657, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for explicitly

• implicitly