as in illuminating
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
1
as in filtering
to remove usually visible impurities from
clarify the melted butter by skimming off the milky bits
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in explaining
to make plain or understandable
it would help if you could clarify your position for us
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 clarifying
Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 9 Nov. 2025
It’s been very clarifying and really, for lack of a better word, helpful, in framing for us, really, and reminding us what, what this festival is, what is Mr. Redford’s legacy.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 21 Oct. 2025
And that was a clarifying moment for me in my understanding of their relationship.
—Max Gao, Variety, 29 Aug. 2025
Working at the Taller de Gráfica Popular allowed for a clarifying moment of vision, one that drove her work—politically and artistically—for the rest of her life.
—Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 2025
But this was a clarifying moment for me, as the photo’s release validated other information my source had been sharing in recent weeks.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 4 Sep. 2024
Kyle's clarifying questions ultimately yield a few non-clarifying answers.
—Jodi Walker, EW.com, 16 Sep. 2021
The most clarifying political moment of the era came with the 1912 presidential election, when corporate concentration was explicitly on the ballot.
—Zephyr Teachout, Foreign Affairs, 8 Dec. 2020
Daniel Ruetenik, CBS News, 31 Dec. 2025
The death certificates for Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner are clarifying the timeline of their deaths.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 23 Dec. 2025
Messiness is the defining feature, in a way that becomes clarifying.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 22 Dec. 2025
This can be an uncomfortable but clarifying start to the week.
—Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 21 Dec. 2025
Andreatta has since issued statements and videos clarifying and amending her statements.
—Daniel Lempres, Sacbee.com, 17 Dec. 2025
The bill aims to protect small and mid-sized employers from catastrophic claims by clarifying that stop-loss insurance isn’t health insurance.
—Bart Jansen, USA Today, 12 Dec. 2025
In addition to its cover-up capabilities, the formula is enriched with nourishing ingredients such as allantoin, bakuchiol, and niacinamide that actually target dark spots and, with time (and regular wear), can brighten them while clarifying the complexion.
—Jessie Quinn, StyleCaster, 6 Nov. 2025
The issue of faith and LGBTQ+ issues became part of the mayoral and council campaigns, with both candidates clarifying their views to voters.
—Niraj Warikoo, Freep.com, 5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
As the Virgo Moon arrives November 13 to 15, things get even more introspective, but in the best, most clarifying way.
—Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 9 Nov. 2025
It’s been very clarifying and really, for lack of a better word, helpful, in framing for us, really, and reminding us what, what this festival is, what is Mr. Redford’s legacy.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 21 Oct. 2025
And that was a clarifying moment for me in my understanding of their relationship.
—Max Gao, Variety, 29 Aug. 2025
Working at the Taller de Gráfica Popular allowed for a clarifying moment of vision, one that drove her work—politically and artistically—for the rest of her life.
—Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 2025
But this was a clarifying moment for me, as the photo’s release validated other information my source had been sharing in recent weeks.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 4 Sep. 2024
Kyle's clarifying questions ultimately yield a few non-clarifying answers.
—Jodi Walker, EW.com, 16 Sep. 2021
The most clarifying political moment of the era came with the 1912 presidential election, when corporate concentration was explicitly on the ballot.
—Zephyr Teachout, Foreign Affairs, 8 Dec. 2020
Verb
Rather than clarifying events surrounding Epstein's death, the footage appears to complicate the official narrative, and contradicts some prior statements about the prison's surveillance system.
—Daniel Ruetenik, CBS News, 31 Dec. 2025
The death certificates for Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner are clarifying the timeline of their deaths.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 23 Dec. 2025
Messiness is the defining feature, in a way that becomes clarifying.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 22 Dec. 2025
This can be an uncomfortable but clarifying start to the week.
—Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 21 Dec. 2025
Andreatta has since issued statements and videos clarifying and amending her statements.
—Daniel Lempres, Sacbee.com, 17 Dec. 2025
The bill aims to protect small and mid-sized employers from catastrophic claims by clarifying that stop-loss insurance isn’t health insurance.
—Bart Jansen, USA Today, 12 Dec. 2025
In addition to its cover-up capabilities, the formula is enriched with nourishing ingredients such as allantoin, bakuchiol, and niacinamide that actually target dark spots and, with time (and regular wear), can brighten them while clarifying the complexion.
—Jessie Quinn, StyleCaster, 6 Nov. 2025
The issue of faith and LGBTQ+ issues became part of the mayoral and council campaigns, with both candidates clarifying their views to voters.
—Niraj Warikoo, Freep.com, 5 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clarifying
Adjective
-
And What That Reveals One of the most illuminating areas of friendship research explores how men and women approach connection differently.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
22 Jan. 2026
-
The life of Universal Friend proved to be particularly illuminating, especially in how Friend established communities that embodied the ideals for which the American Revolution was fought, while elsewhere in the new nation of the United States those ideals fell woefully by the wayside.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Lines have formed for the bathroom, and protesters are routinely filtering in and out of the store to escape the cold.—
Stephen Gruber-Miller,
Des Moines Register,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Instead of just filtering by age or distance, the system weighs emotional compatibility, conflict styles, and expectations around commitment to suggest a smaller set of matches with higher odds of genuine chemistry.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Therefore, telling the story in graphic form on behalf of Ukrainians themselves, explaining the preconditions for Russia’s attempts to erase Ukraine as a sovereign country and Ukrainians as an ethnic group, became extremely relevant.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Nicotine use had the strongest impact on heart health, explaining 34% of the link between late bedtime and heart disease.—
Dr. Joseph Wendt,
ABC News,
28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Your first thought might be that the purpose of each room is self explanatory—kitchen is for cooking, bedroom is for sleeping, living room is for relaxing or entertaining—but Guest encourages homeowners to dig deeper.—
Kylie Petty,
Better Homes & Gardens,
25 Jan. 2026
-
Her vision for the network’s future involves not just breaking news but also explanatory journalism, investigations, and collaborations with personalities who have grown their own audiences online.—
Clare Malone,
New Yorker,
19 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Armed with the insights gleaned from Go and Fresh, Amazon is refining and expanding its new five-store, small format Whole Foods Market Daily Shop, which will serve as a mini-convenience store.—
Phil Wahba,
Fortune,
29 Jan. 2026
-
But for African governments, the central challenge is realizing ambitions to move beyond only exporting raw minerals to processing and refining them, too.—
Yinka Adegoke,
semafor.com,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
According to the company, the system allows multiple humanoid robots to function together autonomously, illustrating how teams of robots could be deployed and managed in real-world industrial environments, such as manufacturing facilities.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Jelou And The Rise Of Transactional AI One company illustrating this shift is Jelou, which recently raised $10 million to expand its transactional AI platform across the Americas.—
Ilona Limonta-Volkova,
Forbes.com,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
But extracting them and refining them is the difficult part.—
John Towfighi,
CNN Money,
11 Jan. 2026
-
Olive oil is made by crushing olives and extracting their liquids.—
Kirsten Nunez,
Martha Stewart,
10 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The Exception Code — Jonathan Johannes A leadership framework informed by a landmark Caribbean banking acquisition, demonstrating that culture, trust, and integration challenges—and solutions—are global.—
Jennifer J. Fondrevay,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
-
In demonstrating the technology to CalMatters, using an imaginary 56-year-old female patient who complained of trouble breathing, Scope asked several follow-up questions to drill down on her symptoms.—
Cal Matters,
Mercury News,
28 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Clarifying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clarifying. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
