Synonyms of elucidate

elucidate

verb

i-ˈlü-sə-ˌdāt 

as in to explain

to make plain or understandable

colored charts that really help to elucidate the points made in the text

Synonyms & Similar Words

• explain
• clarify
• illustrate
• demonstrate
• illuminate
• simplify
• interpret
• explicate
• expound
• construe
• clear (up)
• analyze
• demystify
• spell out
• get across
• resolve
• define
• decipher
• solve
• specify
• unriddle
• unravel
• decode
• disentangle
• untangle
• undo
• annotate
• unscramble
• gloss
• break down
• commentate

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• obscure
• confuse
• confound
• cloud
• obfuscate
• befog

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb elucidate contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of elucidate are explain, explicate, expound, and interpret. While all these words mean "to make something clear or understandable," elucidate stresses the throwing of light upon as by offering details or motives previously unclear or only implicit.

elucidate an obscure passage

In what contexts can explain take the place of elucidate?

While the synonyms explain and elucidate are close in meaning, explain implies a making plain or intelligible what is not immediately obvious or entirely known.

explain the rules

When might explicate be a better fit than elucidate?

The meanings of explicate and elucidate largely overlap; however, explicate adds the idea of a developed or detailed analysis.

explicate a poem

When would expound be a good substitute for elucidate?

The words expound and elucidate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, expound implies a careful often elaborate explanation.

expounding a scientific theory

How are the words interpret and explain related as synonyms of elucidate?

Interpret adds to explain the need for imagination or sympathy or special knowledge in dealing with something.

interpreting a work of art

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of elucidate

The rapidity and the terseness of the onscreen action leaps from scene to scene, from event to event, from one salient point to the next, with nothing incidental in between, nothing revealing anything besides what directly elucidates the story as Polanski chooses to tell it. —Richard Brody, New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2025

Genomic convergence in hibernating mammals elucidates the genetics of metabolic regulation in the hypothalamus. —Hannah Millington, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 July 2025

What has made Superman endure culturally since 1938 is his humanity — his fallibility and compassion — a fact which Corenswet gets to elucidate in a moving, climactic speech. —Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 8 July 2025

Still, the impressive power of the book club might have been better elucidated if details about its impact in other Eastern Bloc countries were brought into the story. —Valorie Castellanos Clark, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2025

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