explain
Usage
What are other ways to say explain?
To explain is to make plain, clear, or intelligible something that is not known or understood: to explain a theory or a problem. To elucidate is to throw light on what before was dark and obscure, usually by illustration and commentary and sometimes by elaborate explanation: They asked him to elucidate his statement. To expound is to give a methodical, detailed, scholarly explanation of something, usually Scriptures, doctrines, or philosophy: to expound the doctrine of free will. To interpret is to give the meaning of something by paraphrase, by translation, or by an explanation based on personal opinion: to interpret a poem or a symbol.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
My simplistic take, he assured me, was “a reasonable way to explain it.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026
But that tax doesn’t apply to a cost like a baggage fee, which may explain why some airlines have raised that fee.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026
Their attempts to explain their evasions made things worse.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026
It allows scientists to explain why the Milky Way shows a gamma-ray signal while dwarf galaxies do not, without discarding the possibility that dark matter is responsible.
From Science Daily • Apr. 10, 2026
“And that’s good. I didn’t want to have to try to explain one of the greatest things in the world. Shall we?”
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Vocabulary lists containing explain
PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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The SAT: Language of the Test, List 4
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