explicate
/ˈɛk.splɪˌkeɪt/
"explicate" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“explicate” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To explain meticulously or in great detail.
Corpus desk
Index EN-explicate · explicate · English
explicate · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "E" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | explicate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈɛk.splɪˌkeɪt/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “explicate” in English
Rare enough to double-check
explicate is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈɛk.splɪˌkeɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To explain meticulously or in great detail.".
explicate has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin explicāre (“unfold, explain”). The correct English form is explicate, spelled E-X-P-L-I-C-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To explain meticulously or in great detail.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how explicate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
My homework is to explicate a poem.
It is an act of grace and higheſt honour that we duſt and aſhes are admitted to ſpeak to the Eternal God, to run to him as to a Father, to lay open our wants, to complain of our burdens, to explicate our ſcruples, to beg remedy & eaſe, ſupport and counſel, health and ſafety, deliverance & ſalvation: […]
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin explicāre (“unfold, explain”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.