Elaborate: Definition, Usage & Common Mistakes

Meaning 1：intricate and detailed (elaborate)

elaborate 🔊

/ɪˈlæbərət/

adj.

It means something is made with a lot of careful details, making it complex and beautiful.

Elaborate cake illustration showing intricate details like sugar flowers and piping.

intricate and detailed 🔊

➕

/ɪnˈtrɪkɪt ænd ˈdiːteɪld/

adj.

Describes something made or done with great attention to many small parts and details, often making it complex and visually impressive.

📁 Category：Objects & Materials 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From Latin "e-" (out) + "labor" (work). Literally "worked out".

💡 Mnemonic

Think of a lab where scientists work out (e-labor-ate) every complex detail of an experiment.

📖 Example

The wedding cake was an elaborate masterpiece with five tiers and handcrafted sugar flowers. 🔊 The wedding cake was a masterpiece that was intricate and detailed, featuring five tiers and sugar flowers made by hand.

🔗 Collocations

elaborate design – a complex and detailed design

elaborate preparations – very detailed and thorough preparations

an elaborate scheme – a complex and carefully planned project or idea

🔄 Synonyms

ornate (adj.) – Richly decorated, often excessively so.

intricate (adj.) – Having many complexly interrelating parts or elements.

involved (adj.) – Complicated or detailed in structure.

🚫 Antonyms

simple (adj.) – Plain, basic, or uncomplicated in form or design.

plain (adj.) – Not decorated or elaborate; simple or ordinary.

rudimentary (adj.) – Involving only the most basic and undeveloped features.

🌱 Derivatives

elaborately (adv.) – In an elaborate manner; with intricate detail.

elaborateness (n.) – The quality of being elaborate.

📖 Cultural Story

Derived from Latin "elaboratus," past participle of "elaborare" (to work out, produce by labor), from "e-" (out) + "laborare" (to labor). It entered English in the late 16th century, initially meaning "produced by labor." The modern sense of "highly detailed" emerged by the early 17th century.