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

This has, weirdly, resulted in far-right communities being one of the few spaces where maternal labor is explicitly celebrated, rather than dismissed or ignored. —Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, 6 Feb. 2026

Only a few arrests in the cases reviewed by the Sun Sentinel were explicitly related to immigration enforcement. —Shira Moolten, Sun Sentinel, 6 Feb. 2026

Jones directed a sergeant to expand Meiner’s security detail but did not explicitly call for officers to visit Pacheco’s home. —Aaron Leibowitz, Miami Herald, 5 Feb. 2026

Fifteen years later, Representations of the Intellectual was the first book to reflect in general terms on the task of the intellectual from an explicitly Palestinian perspective. —Literary Hub, 5 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

explicit + -ly entry 2

First Known Use

circa 1657, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for explicitly

• implicitly