as in to explain
to make plain or understandable
the physicist did his best to explicate the wave theory of light for the audience of laymen
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Recent Examples of explicate
Each of the songs explicates a place and time of an incident or an idea in the lives of the protagonists.
—
Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2024
The Michael Mann Archives also provide a wealth of video content in the form of 18 documentaries that explicate Mann and his collaborators’ process from a wide array of perspectives including acting, production design, cinematography, and props.
—Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 16 July 2024
It’s never fully explicated in the screenplay, but Max’s past mental health issues and possibly undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder are frequently alluded to, thrumming below the surface.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 31 May 2024
The initial version was published in The Columbia Journal of Law & The Arts, with 248 footnotes explicating both legal and operatic precedents.
—Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 8 Sep. 2010
See All Example Sentences for explicate
Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2024
The Michael Mann Archives also provide a wealth of video content in the form of 18 documentaries that explicate Mann and his collaborators’ process from a wide array of perspectives including acting, production design, cinematography, and props.
—Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 16 July 2024
It’s never fully explicated in the screenplay, but Max’s past mental health issues and possibly undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder are frequently alluded to, thrumming below the surface.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 31 May 2024
The initial version was published in The Columbia Journal of Law & The Arts, with 248 footnotes explicating both legal and operatic precedents.
—Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 8 Sep. 2010
See All Example Sentences for explicate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for explicate
Verb
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Here, Renzi explains how long the doc was in the works, why family members didn’t participate, and how Marco of all people helped Sheen to get off crack.—
Lynette Rice,
Deadline,
13 Sep. 2025
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At a time when contentious words dominate our conversations—think insurrection and fascism and fake news and woke—the need for dictionaries to chronicle and explain language, and serve as its watchdog, has never been greater.—
Stefan Fatsis,
The Atlantic,
13 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Later Cox said a person of interest was in custody and being interviewed, and clarified that the person was not the man booked on the obstruction charge.—
Amanda Lee Myers,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
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Of the 118 valid responses from patients, 108 indicated the ChatGPT summaries clarified details about the original report.—
Kate Ruder,
NPR,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The timing, although likely coincidental, illustrated the dilemma Democrats currently face.—
Mabinty Quarshie,
The Washington Examiner,
11 Sep. 2025
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Still, Carney’s lyrical piece, a sort of prose poem-flash fiction hybrid, written from the point of view of an unborn baby, illustrates a womb space at once protective and cage-like.—
Manuel Muñoz,
Literary Hub,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The exhibit showcases promotional materials that demonstrate the film’s global impact.—
R. Daniel Foster,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
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Equally notable, the system moved seamlessly from low- to high-energy states on its own, demonstrating that its automatic adjustment isn’t just theory but a working feature.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
13 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Explicate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/explicate. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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