On this page14 sections
- Quick list: words to use instead of explain
- Making something clearer
- Describing what something is like
- Giving the main points
- Going into detail, step by step
- Explaining with examples
- Giving reasons
- Formal and academic alternatives
- Figurative and informal ways to say explain
- The grammar trap: explain to someone
- In emails and at work
- Related forms
- Practice: choose the best word
- Quick answers
Common other words for explain are describe, clarify, illustrate, outline, clear up, spell out, break down, walk someone through, account for and justify. They are not interchangeable. Clarify makes something that was confusing clear; describe says what something is like; account for and justify give reasons; illustrate explains with examples; outline gives only the main points.
So the right synonym depends on what kind of explaining you are doing. This page groups the alternatives by that job, shows the grammar each one takes (several are easy to get wrong), and ends with a short practice set.
Quick list: words to use instead of explain
| If you mean… | Try |
|---|---|
| make something clear that was confusing | clarify, clear up, shed light on, demystify, unpack |
| say what something is like | describe, portray, depict, characterise |
| give the main points only | outline, sketch, summarise, give an overview of |
| go through it in detail or step by step | detail, elaborate on, expand on, break down, walk someone through, spell out |
| show with examples | illustrate, demonstrate, show, exemplify |
| teach someone how something works | show someone how, teach, instruct, guide someone through |
| give the reason for something | account for, justify, give reasons for, rationalise |
| say what something means | interpret, define, decode, translate |
| explain in a formal or academic text | elucidate, expound, explicate, set out, articulate |
Making something clearer
Use these when there was confusion, doubt or a misunderstanding to remove.
- Clarify: the most useful all-round replacement in work emails. Could you clarify what you mean by “next week”? Let me clarify the deadline.
- Clear up: informal; often used with a confusion, a misunderstanding or a mystery. A quick call cleared up the confusion about the invoice.
- Shed light on / throw light on: make something less mysterious, often used for causes and history. The letters shed light on why the bridge was never finished.
- Demystify: make a subject that seems difficult or intimidating easier to understand. The course demystifies tax returns for freelancers.
- Unpack: take a complex idea apart and look at each piece. Common in teaching and journalism. Let’s unpack what “net zero” actually requires.
- Make sense of: help someone understand something puzzling. This guide helps you make sense of your payslip.
Describing what something is like
- Describe: say what something or someone is like. It explains the what, not the why. Describe the suspect. She described the hotel as “tired but clean”.
- Portray / depict: show something in a particular way, especially in art, film or writing. The novel portrays the town as suffocating.
- Characterise: describe the typical qualities of something, or label it in a certain way. Critics characterised the speech as cautious.
- Paint a picture of: a figurative phrase for describing vividly. Her diary paints a picture of daily life in wartime London.
For praise of people who explain or write clearly, see words to describe someone who writes well.
Giving the main points
- Outline: give the main points without the detail. The manager outlined the new rota at the start of the meeting.
- Summarise (US summarize): restate the main points briefly, usually of something already said or written. Can you summarise the report in two lines?
- Sketch / sketch out: describe roughly, often a plan still forming. He sketched out his idea for the app.
- Give an overview of: a general picture of a whole subject. The first lecture gives an overview of the course.
- Run through: go over something quickly. Let me run through the agenda.
Going into detail, step by step
- Elaborate on / expand on: add more detail to something already mentioned. Could you elaborate on the second point?
- Detail: describe fully, item by item. The contract details every payment date.
- Break down: split something complex into simple parts. The chart breaks down where each pound of the budget goes.
- Walk someone through: explain a process step by step, usually while they follow along. The engineer walked me through resetting the router.
- Spell out: explain something very plainly and explicitly, sometimes impatiently. Do I have to spell it out for you? The policy spells out who pays for repairs.
- Go over / go through: explain or review something carefully. The teacher went over the homework answers.
Explaining with examples
- Illustrate: make a point clearer with an example, story or picture. She illustrated the risk with a story about her first car.
- Demonstrate: show how something works by doing it, or prove it with evidence. The chef demonstrated how to fold dumplings. The data demonstrate a clear trend.
- Show: the plain, everyday word. Can you show me how this works?
- Exemplify: formal; to be a typical example of. The building exemplifies 1930s design. Note that the subject is the example, not the person explaining.
Giving reasons
When you “explain” a decision, a delay or a result, these are more exact.
- Account for: give the reason for something, or be the reason for it. How do you account for the missing stock? Rent accounts for half my spending.
- Justify: show that something is right or reasonable. He justified the price rise by pointing to higher fuel costs.
- Give reasons for / give an explanation for: neutral and clear. The airline gave no explanation for the delay.
- Rationalise: find reasons for something, often reasons that excuse it. She rationalised the purchase as an investment. This one usually suggests self-justification.
- Explain away: try to make a problem seem unimportant by giving reasons. He tried to explain away the bad reviews.
For linking a cause in your own writing, see other ways to say “this is because”.
Formal and academic alternatives
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| elucidate | make clear by explaining (very formal) | The study elucidates how the enzyme works. |
| expound (on) | explain an idea or theory in detail, at length | He expounded on his theory of history for an hour. |
| explicate | analyse and explain the meaning of a text or idea | Students explicate a sonnet line by line. |
| set out | present ideas or facts in an organised way | Chapter 2 sets out the method. |
| articulate | express an idea clearly in words | She articulated the team’s concerns to the board. |
| interpret | explain the meaning of something | How do you interpret these results? |
| discuss | examine a topic, considering different sides | Discuss the causes of the First World War. (an exam instruction, not quite the same as “explain”) |
In essays and reports, don’t swap explain for elucidate just to sound clever: most readers find explain or show clearer. Save the formal words for places where their extra meaning helps: explicate for close reading of a text, expound for a long exposition of a theory.
Figurative and informal ways to say explain
- Break it down: Okay, break it down for me. What actually happened?
- Fill someone in: tell someone the details they missed. I was off sick; can you fill me in?
- Bring someone up to speed: give someone the latest information. Let me bring you up to speed on the project.
- Connect the dots: explain how separate facts relate. The documentary connects the dots between the two scandals.
- Put it in plain English / in a nutshell: explain simply or briefly. In a nutshell, we’re over budget.
- Paint a picture: describe vividly. Let me paint a picture of a typical day here.
- Explain it like I’m five: an informal request for the simplest possible explanation, popular online.
- Get across / put across: succeed in making an idea understood. She got her point across without slides.
The grammar trap: explain to someone
Explain does not take the listener as a direct object. This is one of the most common errors in learner English:
| Wrong | Right |
|---|---|
| Can you explain me the rule? | Can you explain the rule to me? |
| He explained us why he was late. | He explained (to us) why he was late. |
| Explain about the plan. | Explain the plan. (but: tell me about the plan) |
The synonyms each have their own pattern, and mixing them up causes similar errors:
- Describe works like explain: describe it to me, never describe me it.
- Show and teach do take the person directly: show me how, teach me the rule.
- Walk, fill and bring take the person in the middle: walk me through it, fill me in, bring me up to speed.
- Elaborate and expand need on when there is an object: elaborate on the point, not elaborate the point.
- Account needs for: account for the loss.
- Clarify takes the thing, not the person: clarify the question; to include the person, say clarify it for me.
In emails and at work
“Explain” can sound like a demand, especially in a request: Please explain the delay may read as an accusation. Softer alternatives:
- Could you help me understand why the delivery moved to Friday?
- Could you clarify the timeline?
- Would you mind walking me through the new process?
- Could you give me a bit more detail on the costs?
- When you are the one explaining: To give some context…, Here’s the background…, Just to clarify…, To put it simply…
Replying after someone has explained? See other ways to say thank you for the clarification.
Related forms
- explanation (noun): a clear explanation; synonyms: account, clarification, description, interpretation, rationale (for reasons), justification.
- explanatory (adjective): explanatory notes.
- explainer (noun): a short article or video that explains a news topic. The site published an explainer on the new tax.
- explicable / inexplicable: able / not able to be explained. An inexplicable silence.
Practice: choose the best word
Pick from: clarify, outline, account for, illustrate, walk… through, describe. Use each once.
- Before we start, I’ll briefly ________ the three stages of the project.
- Can you ________ what “end of day” means here: 5 p.m. or midnight?
- The nurse will ________ you ________ how to use the inhaler.
- How do you ________ the 20% drop in sales last month?
- Witnesses were asked to ________ the car.
- He used a story about his grandmother to ________ the point.
Answers: 1 outline; 2 clarify; 3 walk … through; 4 account for; 5 describe; 6 illustrate.
Fix the sentence:
- She explained me the answer.
- Can you elaborate the plan?
- Please describe me the problem.
Answers: 1 She explained the answer to me. 2 Can you elaborate on the plan? 3 Please describe the problem to me.
Quick answers
What is a better word for explain?
It depends on the job: clarify (remove confusion), describe (say what it is like), illustrate (use examples), outline (main points), account for (give reasons).
What is a formal word for explain?
Elucidate, set out, expound on or clarify. In most formal writing, clarify and set out read best.
What is a simple word for explain?
Show, tell, go over or break down.
What is another word for “explained” in an essay?
Argued, noted, observed, pointed out, showed or described, depending on what the writer did. Smith argues that… is stronger than Smith explains that… when the claim is debatable.
Is it “explain me” or “explain to me”?
Explain to me, or put the thing first: explain it to me. “Explain me” is a common error.
For more swaps in academic and work writing, see another word for important and another word for however.