3 meanings
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1 —as in:
elaborate on your plan
Definition
add details or explain in detail- Please elaborate on the reasons you think this is the best plan.
elaborate = explain in detail
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- As we talked, she elaborated on her idea
- "Yes," Sue said, and did not elaborate.Stephen King -- Carrie
- "Just answer the question. Don't elaborate."J.D. Robb -- Glory in Death
- When he spoke, his voice was steady, like a professor elaborating on a subject he taught.Nicholas Sparks -- The Lucky One
- She didn't elaborate any further, and I knew right then that she was holding something back, something that she couldn't tell me, something that made her sad as well.Nicholas Sparks -- A Walk to Remember
- "Good," Professeur Cole says. "More. Elaborate."Stephanie Perkins -- Anna and the French Kiss
- He didn't elaborate.Kiera Cass -- The Selection
- He elaborated without encouragement, citing the advantages of Devon's physical hardening program and of a high school diploma when he did in good time reach basic training.John Knowles -- A Separate Peace
- Already he was rehearsing his exit lines: I'm not what you need, you deserve better, I'll ruin your life, and so forth. But it was best to work up to these things, so he elaborated on his new job.Margaret Atwood -- Oryx and Crake
elaborated = added details
elaborate = add details
elaborate = add details
elaborating = explaining in detail
elaborate = add details
elaborate = add more detail
elaborate = add detail (to what had been said)
elaborated = explained in more detail
elaborated = explained in more detail
2 —as in:
an elaborate design
Definition
having details and complexity — sometimes fancy or ornate- It's part of her elaborate plan for getting accepted at Harvard.
elaborate = complicated
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- Their culture has elaborate wedding ceremonies.
- It is an elaborate remake of her independent film, but this time with a Hollywood budget.
- It has an elaborate lace pattern.
- ...in elaborate handwriting, the "z" in Mozart with an equals-sign through it and all the "y's" so heavily tailed they went through the paper.Eudora Welty -- The Golden Apples
- we spent a lot of time concocting elaborate plans that we never had the nerve to carry out.Jill McCorkle -- Ferris Beach
- Other versions were much more elaborate, full of descriptions and scraps of dialogue.Tim O'Brien -- The Things They Carried
- At first she thought it had all been some elaborate joke,J.D. Robb -- Immortal in Death
- She wore a blue silk afternoon dress, and he was disappointed at first that she had not put on something more elaborate.F. Scott Fitzgerald -- Winter Dreams
- A simple face-mask and oxygen set would take care of that: there was no need for anything elaborate.Arthur C. Clarke -- Childhood's End
elaborate = with many details or features
elaborate = special due to added detail or features
elaborate = with complicated detail
elaborate = fancy (with complex details)
elaborate = detailed or complex
elaborate = detailed and complex
elaborate = complicated
elaborate = fancy (a more special design)
elaborate = complex
3 —as in:
an elaborate wink
Definition
to exaggerate an action- He gave her a slow elaborate wink.
elaborate = exaggerated
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- He walked with an elaborate swagger.
- She coughed elaborately at the door so that Philip should have time to compose himself, she felt that he would be humiliated if she came upon him in the midst of his tears, then she rattled the door handle.W. Somerset Maugham -- Of Human Bondage
- They are the more popular crowd at high school and every evening about half-past seven they gather to stand talking together with elaborate unconcern, while in actuality they are sharply watching the cars going by to see what fellows and girls are out together; they watch to see who is having a Coke with whom and to report any violations on the part of the girls who are supposed to be going steady.Maureen Daly -- Seventeenth Summer
- He took on the elaborate manner of little girls when they are mimicking one another.John Steinbeck -- Of Mice and Men
- I had clearly gotten the best of her, so I sobered to an elaborate caricature of humility.Katherine Paterson -- Jacob Have I Loved
- Brinker turned elaborately toward him.John Knowles -- A Separate Peace
- [Nick describing Gatsby:] ...I was looking at an elegant young rough-neck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd.F. Scott Fitzgerald -- The Great Gatsby
- Elaborately casual, they start sauntering off as Krupke appears.Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim -- Westside Story
- Brinker began talking to him in the elaborately casual manner of someone being watched.John Knowles -- A Separate Peace
elaborate = exaggerated
elaborately = in an exaggerated manner
elaborate = exaggerated
elaborate = exaggerated
elaborate = exaggerated
elaborately = in an exaggerated manner
elaborate = exaggerated
elaborately = in an exaggerated manner
elaborately = exaggeratedly