as in to speak
to give a formal often extended talk on a subject
the naturalist is known for her willingness to expatiate on any number of issues relating to wildlife and the environment
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Recent Examples of expatiate
There was no debate on education, for instance, the subject on which Cash had been most keen to expatiate; indeed, there were no debates at all.
—
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 25 July 2024
Ostensibly, further studies are encouraged to expatiate this understanding.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 7 Jan. 2024
Ostensibly, further studies are encouraged to expatiate this understanding.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 15 Dec. 2022
With wit and elan to spare, Greene expatiates on the intrigue that ensues when David Sparsholt, an engineering student with a fiancée, Connie, and a plan to join the Royal Air Force, arrives at Oxford in 1940.
—Priscilla Gilman, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Mar. 2018
Alex Tizon’s essay can be read not simply as an attempt to confess a crime and expatiate his family’s guilt.
—Jean M. Twenge, The Atlantic, 8 Aug. 2017
Tizon’s essay can be read not simply as an attempt to confess a crime and expatiate his family’s guilt.
—Vicente Rafael, The Atlantic, 31 May 2017
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 25 July 2024
Ostensibly, further studies are encouraged to expatiate this understanding.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 7 Jan. 2024
Ostensibly, further studies are encouraged to expatiate this understanding.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 15 Dec. 2022
With wit and elan to spare, Greene expatiates on the intrigue that ensues when David Sparsholt, an engineering student with a fiancée, Connie, and a plan to join the Royal Air Force, arrives at Oxford in 1940.
—Priscilla Gilman, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Mar. 2018
Alex Tizon’s essay can be read not simply as an attempt to confess a crime and expatiate his family’s guilt.
—Jean M. Twenge, The Atlantic, 8 Aug. 2017
Tizon’s essay can be read not simply as an attempt to confess a crime and expatiate his family’s guilt.
—Vicente Rafael, The Atlantic, 31 May 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for expatiate
Verb
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The 27-year-old Fanning, who grew up in the spotlight as a child star alongside her sister Dakota, also spoke about how her career has evolved over the years after a journalist noted that this may be her most mature role yet.—
Ellise Shafer,
Variety,
22 May 2025
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The presenters spoke their mother tongue (Farsi and Hindi), which was detected and translated in real-time to English.—
Ryan Whitwam,
ArsTechnica,
22 May 2025
Verb
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These days, nothing infuriates liberals more than to be lectured about the American plutocracy — not when Trump is perhaps the most brazenly corrupt president to hold the office in modern history.—
Alexander Heffner,
Chicago Tribune,
29 May 2025
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Maybe Healey can lecture them on how to sue Trump a hundred times and bankrupt a state on migrant hotel shelters.—
Joe Battenfeld,
Boston Herald,
27 May 2025
Verb
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Witnesses said the customer complained about his order to a female employee working at the Checkers window and asked to talk to a manager several times, investigators wrote in the report.—
Olivia Lloyd,
Miami Herald,
26 May 2025
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Patti LuPone stood in a midtown recording studio one spring afternoon, talking to Carrie Bradshaw.—
Michael Schulman,
New Yorker,
26 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Expatiate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expatiate. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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