Explicit

//ɪkˈsplɪsɪt// adj, noun, phrase

adj, noun, phrase ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The final few words of a text.
Adjective
  1. 1
    Very specific, clear, or detailed.

    "I gave explicit instructions for him to stay here, but he followed me, anyway."

  2. 2
    Containing material (e.g. language or film footage) that might be deemed offensive or graphic through clear and direct expressions. euphemistic

    "The film had several scenes including explicit language and sex."

Adjective
  1. 1
    precisely and clearly expressed or readily observable; leaving nothing to implication wordnet
  2. 2
    in accordance with fact or the primary meaning of a term wordnet
Phrase
  1. 1
    Used at the conclusion of a book to indicate the end. obsolete

Synonyms

All synonyms
expressstatedunequivocalexpressabsoluteaccurate

Example

More examples

"I gave you explicit instructions not to touch anything."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French explicite, from Latin explicitus (“disentangled, easy”), variant of explicātus.

Etymology 2

Abbreviated from Latin explicitus est liber (“the book is set in order, ended”).

Related phrases

explicit functionexplicit modeling

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.