as in interpretative
serving to explain
the explanatory section has as its heading "What the New Tax Changes Mean"
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Recent Examples of explanatory
The San Francisco Chronicle received the award for explanatory reporting, which means work that makes a complex topic comprehensible to everyday readers and viewers.
—
Jennifer Peltz, Twin Cities, 4 May 2026
ProPublica received Pulitzers for public service in 2025, public service in 2024, national reporting in 2020, feature writing in 2019, public service in 2017, explanatory reporting in 2016, national reporting in 2011 and investigative reporting in 2010.
—ProPublica, 4 May 2026
Even so, finding more explanatory mechanisms hasn’t been top of mind for neuroscientists.
—Yasemin Saplakoglu, Quanta Magazine, 24 Apr. 2026
Read’s book is a great explanatory account of the industry, connecting big, nebulous ideas like neoliberalism to actual concrete things.
—The New Yorker, New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for explanatory
Jennifer Peltz, Twin Cities, 4 May 2026
ProPublica received Pulitzers for public service in 2025, public service in 2024, national reporting in 2020, feature writing in 2019, public service in 2017, explanatory reporting in 2016, national reporting in 2011 and investigative reporting in 2010.
—ProPublica, 4 May 2026
Even so, finding more explanatory mechanisms hasn’t been top of mind for neuroscientists.
—Yasemin Saplakoglu, Quanta Magazine, 24 Apr. 2026
Read’s book is a great explanatory account of the industry, connecting big, nebulous ideas like neoliberalism to actual concrete things.
—The New Yorker, New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for explanatory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for explanatory
Adjective
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Most of these interpretative moves work fine because they’re thought through and balanced by other moves.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
16 June 2026
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Emmie’s condition is an interpretative riddle for both her parents and the reader.—
Giles Harvey,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Walking through the exhibit, visitors can read interpretive panels detailing the lives of key figures in Yuba-Sutter’s Black history.—
Velvet Wu
June 16,
Sacbee.com,
16 June 2026
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His father worked at the fort in its early years, and Medina himself spent three seasons repairing its adobe walls before joining the interpretive staff.—
Kevin Strong,
CBS News,
15 June 2026
Adjective
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The $4,500 out-of-pocket maximum in the prompt is illustrative — the legal in-network ceiling is $9,250 in 2026.—
Eve Cunningham,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2026
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Winslow Homer’s The Morning Bell (originally The Old Mill, pictured above) is illustrative of this distinction in art.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Explanatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/explanatory. Accessed 25 Jun. 2026.
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