Dictionary Definition
elaborate adj
1 marked by complexity and richness of detail;
"an elaborate lace pattern" [syn: luxuriant]
2 developed or executed with care and in minute
detail; "a detailed plan"; "the elaborate register of the
inhabitants prevented tax evasion"- John Buchan; "the carefully
elaborated theme" [syn: detailed, elaborated]
Verb
1 add details, as to an account or idea; clarify
the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing;
"She elaborated on the main ideas in her dissertation" [syn:
lucubrate, expatiate, exposit, enlarge, flesh out,
expand, expound, dilate] [ant: abridge]
2 produce from basic elements or sources; change
into a more developed product; "The bee elaborates honey"
3 make more complex, intricate, or richer;
"refine a design or pattern" [syn: complicate, refine, rarify]
4 work out in detail; "elaborate a plan" [syn:
work
out]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- Adjective: ĭlă'bərət, /ɪˈlæbərət/, /I"l
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Babylonian, Byzantine, Corinthian, Gongoresque, Gongoristic, Marinistic, adorn, affected, amplify, arabesque, artificial, assemble, assiduous, awe-inspiring,
awful, balled up, barbaric, baroque, beautify, build, busy, cast, chichi, clarify, comment, complete, complex, complicated, compose, compound, concoct, confounded, confused, construct, convolute, convoluted, crabbed, create, cultivate, daedal, decorate, decorated, deluxe, descant, detail, detailed, develop, devious, devise, dilate, diligent, discuss, dressy, dwell upon, elaborated, elegant, embellish, embellished, embrangled, embroider, enlarge, enlarge upon, enrich, entangled, enter into detail,
erect, euphuistic, evolve, expand, expatiate, explain, explicate, expound, extravagant, extrude, fabricate, fancy, fashion, festoon, fine, finish, flamboyant, florid, flourish, flowery, form, formulate, fouled up, frame, frilly, fudge together, fussy, get up, gild, glorious, go into, gordian, grand, grandiose, high-wrought,
hyperelegant,
implicated, imposing, impressive, indite, industrious, interpret, intricate, involuted, involve, involved, knotted, knotty, labor, labored, labyrinthian, labyrinthine, load with
ornament, loused up, luxuriant, luxurious, magnificent, majestic, make, make up, mannered, manufacture, many-faceted,
matted, mature, mazy, meandering, messed up, mixed
up, mold, moresque, mucked up, multifarious, noble, operose, ornament, ornate, ostentatious, overcharge, overdone, overelaborate, overelegant, overlabored, overlay, overload, overnice, overrefined, overworked, overwrought, painstaking, palatial, particularize, patch
together, perfect,
perplexed, picturesque, piece together,
plush, polish, posh, precieuse, precieux, precious, prefabricate, prepare, pretentious, pretty-pretty,
princely, produce, proud, put together, put up,
raise, ramified, rear, refine, rehearse in extenso,
relate at large, rich,
ripen, ritzy, rococo, roundabout, run up, screwed
up, season, sedulous, set up, shape, snarled, sophisticated, spell out,
splendacious,
splendid, splendiferous, stately, studied, subtle, sumptuous, superb, superfancy, superfine, swank, swanky, swell, tangled, tangly, thorough, thoroughgoing, trick out,
twisted, unfold, unnatural, varnish, whomp up, work out,
write