elaborate

Definitions

1. adjective

   Complex, detailed, or sophisticated.

   Example

   • After reading a long, elaborate description, I was impressed but no wiser.
   ≈fussy
2. adjective

   Intricate, fancy, flashy, or showy.

   Examples

   • I stared for hours at the elaborate pattern in the rug.
   • The house was a big elaborate limestone affair, evidently new. Winter sunshine sparkled on lace-hung casement, on glass marquise, and the burnished bronze foliations of grille and door.
   ≈busy
3. verb

   To develop in detail or complexity.

   Examples

   • […] by the time of the subsequent coronation, when the Prussian king put the crown on his own head in child-like belief of the obsolete doctrine called divine right, the untiring statesman had elaborated his scheme of reform.
   • The notion of blood purity was first elaborated in Europe, where it was used to separate Old Christians from Spain’s New Christians-women and men of Jewish and Muslim origin whose ancestors had converted to Christianity.
   ≈work out
4. verb

   To expand/enlarge in detail.

   Examples

   • What do you mean you didn't come home last night? Would you care to elaborate?
   • Could you elaborate on the plot for your novel for me?