elaboration

1 the act or process of going from the simple or basic to the complex or advanced the elaboration of the Internet from an exclusive computer network into a worldwide communications network of colossal proportions Synonyms development, evolution, expansion, growth, progress, progressionRelated Words advancement, betterment, improvement, perfection, refinement; incubation, maturation, maturing, ripening; blossoming, flourishing, flowering; addition, augmentation, enhancement, supplementation; emergence, evolvement, metamorphosisNear Antonyms backslide, lapse, relapse; decadence, decay, decaying, declension, declination, decline, degeneracy, degeneration, degradation, descent, deterioration, devaluation, downfall, downgrade, ebbing, falling, weakeningAntonyms regress, regression, retrogression, reversion

2 the representation of something in terms that go beyond the facts the eyewitness was deemed unreliable because of his obvious elaboration of what he had actually seen Synonyms caricature, coloring, exaggeration, embellishment, embroidering, embroidery, hyperbole, magnification, overstatement, padding, stretchingRelated Words amplification, enhancement; fabrication, misrepresentation; fudging, hedging; hype, puffery; superlativeNear Antonyms belittlement, disparagement, minimizing, poor-mouthingAntonyms meiosis, understatement