EXPLAINING Synonyms: 50 Similar and Opposite Words

explaining

verb

present participle of explain

as in clarifying

to make plain or understandable a pamphlet that explains the medical procedure in language that any layperson can understand

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as in justifying

to give the reason for or cause of can you explain your very odd behavior at the wedding reception?

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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 explaining The rich collections do a great job of honoring visual traditions and explaining their connections to real people and real places. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Oct. 2026 China’s leading firms are still just approaching top US labs in capabilities, partly explaining their lack of transparency. — Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 2 Oct. 2026 Damian pointed to that lack of disclosure in explaining her sentence. — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 2 Oct. 2026 Wickline came on as an increasingly flustered Anthropic CEO, Dario Amodei, who’s explaining why AI is dangerous without taking any responsibility for that. — Rima Parikh, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2026 But the stakes on Saturday had arguably never been higher for USC’s coach, who spent all offseason explaining how this season would be different. — Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026 Soon, Distelburger found his Resy account had been suspended without warning, along with an email explaining that the behavior violated Resy’s terms of service. — James Peckham, PC Magazine, 26 Sep. 2026 This moves analytics beyond explaining what happened and toward generating actionable insights that can shape the next major trial before more capital is committed. — George Achilleos, Forbes.com, 25 Sep. 2026 Population metrics aside, there’s a German word that goes a long way toward explaining why so many people seem to enjoy watching the Cowboys every fall—especially when Dallas is on the wrong end of a loss. — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 25 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for explaining

Verb

Before meeting with a patient advocate, identify your main objectives – for example, preparing for a transition home, clarifying a treatment plan or understanding medication changes.

— Jennifer Schlinger, The Conversation, 6 Oct. 2026
In November 2025, South Korea proposed talks on clarifying the borderline, but North Korea didn’t respond.

— ABC News, ABC News, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of clarifying

Verb

Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government in Israel is using ancient archaeological heritage as a tool for justifying the seizure of Palestinian land in the West Bank, reports the Financial Times.

— Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 24 Sep. 2026
Trump had not previously cited national security in justifying the ban.

— Dan Mangan, CNBC, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of justifying

Verb

Chinese media also reported that participating forces were stationed underground during the exercise to protect them from drone attacks, illustrating how persistent aerial surveillance and strike drones are changing battlefield operations.

— Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 4 Oct. 2026
Crowley won the primary by a half percentage point — roughly 3,800 votes — illustrating Democrats’ soul-searching in the Upper Midwestern swing state.

— ABC News, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of illustrating

Verb

Alongside the tanker, one team focused on demonstrating a hydrogen fuel cell aboard an offshore wind turbine work vessel.

— Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 4 Oct. 2026
Students in Liège, Belgium, began demonstrating Thursday, and high schools there were closed Friday.

— Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of demonstrating

Verb

While captive whales often live only into their 30s, Marino said attributing their deaths to age fails to acknowledge the reality of why their lifespans are shorter.

— Lila Hempel-Edgers, Chicago Tribune, 25 Sep. 2026
The late Pope Francis approved the beatification, attributing to Sheen the resuscitation of an infant born in 2010 without a pulse and revived only after lengthy efforts by medical workers.

— ABC News, ABC News, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of attributing

Verb

Their value will shift from delivering reports to interpreting data, identifying insights, optimizing cross-channel performance and providing strategic guidance that dashboards and AI alone cannot offer.

— Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 5 Oct. 2026
Cautious enthusiasm for radio signal detection Scientists who were not involved with the new research urged caution when interpreting the findings.

— Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of interpreting

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“Explaining.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/explaining. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.

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