A teacher explaining fractions, a manager explaining a budget cut, and a storm explaining a late flight need three different replacements. The teacher can clarify, spell out or break down; the manager has to justify or defend the cut; the storm accounts for the delay. Mixing them up is the common error: justify in a lesson on fractions sounds as if the math needed an apology, and you can explain a mistake without justifying it.
Best synonyms for explain
Making something clear
- clarify
- spell out
- break down
- walk through
- describe
- illustrate
- interpret
- demystify
- elucidate
- expound
Giving reasons for what you did
- justify
- defend
- rationalize
- account for
Being the reason something happened
- account for
- excuse
- justify
Which synonym should you use?
| If you mean… | Best alternatives |
|---|---|
| Fix something that was confusing | clarify, spell out |
| Teach a procedure in order | walk through |
| Split a complex thing into parts | break down |
| Formal, scholarly explaining | elucidate, expound |
| Give reasons for your decision | justify, defend |
| Invent reasons that sound good | rationalize |
| Name what caused a result | account for |
| Offer a reason that softens blame | excuse |
Explain synonyms explained
1. Clarify
Clarify fixes something already said or written that left the listener unsure. It assumes some understanding exists, whereas explain can start from nothing. It is less forceful than spell out.
Best used when: A statement or instruction was vague and you want to remove the doubt.
Could you clarify what you mean by soon?
2. Spell out
Stronger than clarify, spell out states every detail openly so nothing is left to guess. Said to a person, it can sound impatient, as in a complaint that you shouldn't have to spell it out.
Best used when: A document or person needs to leave no room for misreading.
The contract spells out who pays for repairs.
3. Break down
Where walk through organizes an explanation by steps, break down organizes it by components: you split something complex into parts and explain each one.
Best used when: You are explaining a bill, a formula, or an argument made of several pieces.
The accountant broke down the fees line by line.
4. Walk through
The person being taught goes in the middle of this phrase: walk her through it. Walk through takes someone step by step through a procedure in sequence, which makes it narrower than break down, where no order is needed.
Best used when: You are training someone on a process, such as software or a form.
She walked the new hires through the billing system.
5. Describe
Describe tells what something is like, but it does not necessarily show why or how it works, so it is only a partial stand-in for explain. Like explain, it takes the thing first and puts the person after to.
Best used when: You want to give a picture of something rather than a reason for it.
Correct: She described the route to us.
Incorrect: She described us the route.
The second sentence is wrong because describe cannot take the person directly after the verb. Put the thing described first and the person after to, as in the first sentence.
6. Elucidate
Academic prose is the natural home of elucidate, which means shedding light on something obscure, usually a text, theory, or complicated issue. It is much heavier than clarify and sounds stiff in speech.
Best used when: You are writing academically about a difficult passage or concept.
The footnotes elucidate the author's argument.
7. Expound
Expound means to explain at length and in detail, usually a view or theory the speaker cares about. It can take a direct object or on: expound a theory, or expound on it. It suggests more talking than elucidate does.
Best used when: Someone lectures at length on a favorite subject.
He expounded on his theory of urban planning for an hour.
8. Justify
You can explain a mistake without justifying it, and that gap is the point: justify gives reasons showing something was right or reasonable, not just why it happened. It overlaps with defend, but defend implies someone is attacking the choice.
Best used when: You must show a cost, decision, or action was warranted.
She had to justify the extra cost to the board.
9. Defend
Criticism is what separates defend from justify: you defend a choice that has already been attacked. That gives it more conflict than justify, which can be a calm exercise in reasoning.
Best used when: Someone is questioning your decision and you answer.
He defended his decision to close the plant.
10. Rationalize
Unlike neutral justify, rationalize is usually critical: it describes building reasons that sound sensible but cover the real motive.
Best used when: You suspect the stated reasons are excuses after the fact.
He rationalized the purchase by calling it an investment.
11. Account for
Grammatically, account for always needs its for: say the storm accounted for the delay, not the storm accounted the delay, which drops the required preposition. It means to be the reason for something or to give the reason, and it suits causes and missing pieces: a delay, a gap, a number.
Best used when: A fact has a cause and you are naming it.
A late flight may account for his absence.
12. Excuse
Excuse means to serve as a reason that lessens blame. It is milder than justify: an excuse makes behavior forgivable, while a justification says it was right. It often appears in the negative, as in does not excuse bad behavior.
Best used when: You are discussing whether a reason lets someone off the hook.
Being tired does not excuse rudeness.
FAQ
Is it correct to say explain me the rule?
No. Explain me the rule is wrong because explain does not take the person directly after the verb. Put the thing explained first and the person after to: explain the rule to me, or drop the person: explain the rule.
Does account for always mean explain?
No. It can also mean to make up a share of a total, as in rent accounting for half of a budget. Context shows which meaning is meant.