demonstrate

1 to gain full recognition or acceptance of you must demonstrate your scientific thesis before a jury of your professional peers Synonyms establish, prove, show, substantiateRelated Words attest, authenticate, bear out, document, evidence, support, sustain, uphold; confirm, corroborate, justify, validate, verifyNear Antonyms confute, discredit, invalidate, rebut, refuteAntonyms disprove

2 to show the existence or truth of by evidence the paleontologist hopes to demonstrate that dinosaurs once existed in central Peru by unearthing the fossil evidence Synonyms prove, document, establish, substantiate, validateRelated Words back (up), buttress, circumstantiate, corroborate; evidence, evince, record, support, uphold, witness; adduce, attest, authenticate, certify, identify; confirm, sustain, verify, vouch; clinch, nail, settle; confess, depose, testifyNear Antonyms challenge, dispute, object; allege, assume, conjecture, guess, presume, surmise, suspectAntonyms disprove, rebut, refute

3 to make known (something abstract) through outward signs the babysitter's actions during the emergency demonstrate beyond doubt her general dependability Synonyms bespeak, betray, communicate, declare, show, display, evince, expose, give away, manifest, revealRelated Words bare, disclose, unbosom, uncloak, uncover; advertise, air, announce, blaze, broadcast, placard, proclaim, publicize, sound, trumpet; projectNear Antonyms belie, misrepresent; distort, falsify, garble, twist; camouflage, disguise; gild, gloss (over), varnish, whitewash; conceal, counterfeit, cover, hide, mask, obscure, occlude, veil

4 to make plain or understandable a few striking facts should demonstrate the complex nature of our topic Synonyms clarify, clear (up), construe, explain, demystify, elucidate, explicate, expound, get across, illuminate, illustrate, interpret, simplify, spell out, unriddleRelated Words decipher, decode; analyze, break down; disentangle, undo, unravel, unscramble, untangle; resolve, solve; define, specify; annotate, commentate, glossNear Antonyms befog, cloud; confound, confuse, obfuscateAntonyms obscure

5 to show or make clear by using examples the visiting physicist demonstrated very graphically several basic scientific principles Synonyms illustrate, exemplify, instanceRelated Words adduce, cite, mention, quote; name, specify; analyze, break down; clarify, clear (up), explain, explicate, expound; edify, elucidate, enlighten; illuminate; construe, interpret; simplify, spell out; detail, enumerate, listNear Antonyms becloud, blur, cloud, darken, fog, muddy, obscure; confuse, perplex, puzzle