Elaborate and Simple

Elaborate

Elaborate adjective - Made or done with great care or with much detail.
Usage example: elaborate festivities for the 200th anniversary of the town's founding

Simple is an antonym for elaborate in topics: ornate, intricate.

Simple

Simple adjective - Free from all additions or embellishment.
Usage example: a simple design, and one that never goes out of fashion

Elaborate is an antonym for simple in topics: plain, uncomplicated.

Both words in one sentence

  • Compare the over-elaborate plays of American football - and their increasingly elaborate imitations in other sports - to Jackie Charlton's simple instruction to the Irish national football side.
  • Simple, yet Awesome The Sweet Chin Music, while a simple Superkick instead of something more elaborate, is still relatively easy to perform, lightning-quick, and has a high chance of knocking someone out cold right then and there (including in Real Life).
  • Death Trap Doctor Who: The Master has always used both simple booby traps and elaborate deathtraps against the Doctor and his companions.
    Source: Death Trap
Cite this Source
Simple and Elaborate. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 07, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/elaborate/simple
Elaborate & Simple. N.p., 2016. Web. 07 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/elaborate/simple>.
Simple or Elaborate. 2016. Accessed August 07, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/elaborate/simple.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "elaborate" and "simple" have occurred on timeline