Describe
Explain
Explain verb - To make plain or understandable.
Describe is a synonym for explain in account topic. You can use "Describe" instead a verb "Explain", if it concerns topics such as develop, account for, make clear, make clear or plain.
Mutual synonyms
Common collocations
| relationship | describe relationship | explain relationship |
| nature | describe nature | explain nature |
| appearance | describe appearance | explain appearance |
| plot | describe plot | explain plot |
| Other words: situation, way, characters, story, actions, events, powers. | ||
Both words in one sentence
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Part of Sophie's curse in Howl's Moving Castle includes the inability to explain or describe the curse to anyone else.
Source: Tongue-Tied -
When the interaction between two hypothetical characters is needed to explain or describe some system, they are nearly always called Alice and Bob.
Source: Alice and Bob - The Double Slit Experiment This experiment is used to describe and explain the dual nature of quantum particles, that they are both particle and wave.
Source: Useful Notes / Quantum Physics
Cite this Source
Explain and Describe. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 16, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/describe/explain
Describe & Explain. N.p., 2016. Web. 16 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/describe/explain>.
Explain or Describe. 2016. Accessed August 16, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/describe/explain.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "describe" and "explain" have occurred on timeline