EXPLICIT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does explicit mean? 

• EXPLICIT (adjective)
  The adjective EXPLICIT has 2 senses:

1. precisely and clearly expressed or readily observable; leaving nothing to implication

2. in accordance with fact or the primary meaning of a term

  Familiarity information: EXPLICIT used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EXPLICIT (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Precisely and clearly expressed or readily observable; leaving nothing to implication

Synonyms:

explicit; expressed

Context example:

explicit sexual scenes

Similar:

declared; stated (declared as fact; explicitly stated)

definitive; unequivocal (clearly defined or formulated)

express (not tacit or implied)

graphic (describing nudity or sexual activity in graphic detail)

hard-core; hardcore (extremely explicit)

Also:

definite (precise; explicit and clearly defined)

denotative; denotive (having the power of explicitly denoting or designating or naming)

unambiguous; unequivocal; univocal (admitting of no doubt or misunderstanding; having only one meaning or interpretation and leading to only one conclusion)

open; overt (open and observable; not secret or hidden)

Attribute:

explicitness (clarity as a consequence of being explicit)

Antonym:

implicit (implied though not directly expressed; inherent in the nature of something)

Derivation:

explicitness (clarity as a consequence of being explicit)

Sense 2

Meaning:

In accordance with fact or the primary meaning of a term

Synonyms:

denotative; explicit

Similar:

literal (limited to the explicit meaning of a word or text)

Derivation:

explicitness (clarity as a consequence of being explicit)

 Context examples 

I should have liked something clearer; but Mrs. Fairfax either could not, or would not, give me more explicit information of the origin and nature of Mr. Rochester's trials.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Limited to the explicit meaning of a word or text.

(Literal, NCI Thesaurus)

But if you are really innocent and ignorant, I must be more explicit.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

I must beg you to be more explicit.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In information science, an explicit formal specification of how to represent the objects, concepts and other entities that are assumed to exist in some area of interest and the relationships among them.

(Ontology, NCI Thesaurus)

“Now, my good man,” said the lawyer, “be explicit. What are you afraid of?”

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I was not explicit enough with him before.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

You statement has been so explicit, said he at last, that you have really left me very few questions to ask.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A set of ideas, abstractions, or things in the real world that can be identified with explicit boundaries and meaning and whose properties and behavior follow the same rules.

(Object Class, NCI Thesaurus)

Her childish way was the most delicious way in the world to me, but it was necessary to be explicit, and I solemnly repeated:

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)