illustrate
verb
Simple meaning
To explain something by giving examples or pictures.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
iluhstraytSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɪləstɹeɪt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
figurative
To clarify something by giving, or serving as, an example or a comparison.
To provide a book or other publication with pictures, diagrams or other explanatory or decorative features.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To clarify something by giving, or serving as, an example or a comparison.
Used this way, illustrate is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use illustrate
- “We illustrate our definitions by including quotations or simple examples.”verb
- “The economics textbook was illustrated with many graphs.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
An artist who makes illustrations (for books or magazines or advertisements etc.).
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to clarify something by giving or or serving as
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.