Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Fully and clearly expressed; leaving nothing implied.
  • adjective Fully developed or formulated.
  • adjective Forthright and unreserved in expression.
  • adjective Readily observable.
  • adjective Describing or portraying nudity or sexual activity in graphic detail.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Open to the understanding; express; clear; not obscure or ambiguous: opposed to implicit: as, explicit instructions.
  • Plain; open; unreserved; having no disguised meaning or reservation; outspoken: applied to persons: as, he was explicit in his terms.
  • It is finished or completed: a word formerly inserted at the conclusion of a book, in the same way as finis. See etymology.
  • noun The concluding words of a book or section of a book. See the quotation under incipit.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • A word formerly used (as finis is now) at the conclusion of a book to indicate the end.
  • adjective Not implied merely, or conveyed by implication; distinctly stated; plain in language; open to the understanding; clear; not obscure or ambiguous; express; unequivocal. Opposite of implicit.
  • adjective Having no disguised meaning or reservation; unreserved; outspoken; -- applied to persons.
  • adjective (Math.) See under Function.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Very specific, clear, or detailed.
  • adjective Containing material (e.g. language or film footage) that might be deemed offensive or graphic.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective precisely and clearly expressed or readily observable; leaving nothing to implication
  • adjective in accordance with fact or the primary meaning of a term

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin explicitus, past participle of explicāre, to unfold; see explicate.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

First attested 1609, from French explicite, from Latin explicitus ("disentangled", "easy"), an alternative form of the past participle of explicāre ("to unfold"), from ex- ("out") + plicō ("to fold"). Pornographic sense is from 1971.

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Examples

  • 2. I am using the term explicit memory here to refer to both explicit memory that governs our ability to remember and work with information in the short term (what I refer to as working memory) and explicit long-term memory that is often divided into semantic memory (our memory for particular facts, such as “dogs often bark”) and episodic memory (our memory for autobiographical experiences, such as “the first time you met your spouse”).

    Choke Ph.D. Sian Beilock 2010

  • 2. I am using the term explicit memory here to refer to both explicit memory that governs our ability to remember and work with information in the short term (what I refer to as working memory) and explicit long-term memory that is often divided into semantic memory (our memory for particular facts, such as “dogs often bark”) and episodic memory (our memory for autobiographical experiences, such as “the first time you met your spouse”).

    Choke Ph.D. Sian Beilock 2010

  • 2. I am using the term explicit memory here to refer to both explicit memory that governs our ability to remember and work with information in the short term (what I refer to as working memory) and explicit long-term memory that is often divided into semantic memory (our memory for particular facts, such as “dogs often bark”) and episodic memory (our memory for autobiographical experiences, such as “the first time you met your spouse”).

    Choke Ph.D. Sian Beilock 2010

  • Charles Jencks, the author of The Iconic Building, describes architectural icons as delicate balancing acts between what he calls explicit signs and implicit symbols, that is, between memorable forms and the images they conjure up.

    Makeshift Metropolis Witold Rybczynski 2010

  • Charles Jencks, the author of The Iconic Building, describes architectural icons as delicate balancing acts between what he calls explicit signs and implicit symbols, that is, between memorable forms and the images they conjure up.

    Makeshift Metropolis Witold Rybczynski 2010

  • Charles Jencks, the author of The Iconic Building, describes architectural icons as delicate balancing acts between what he calls explicit signs and implicit symbols, that is, between memorable forms and the images they conjure up.

    Makeshift Metropolis Witold Rybczynski 2010

  • Out of print, it still circulated steadily among readers increasingly aware of the intensifying strategic alliance between the Republican Party and millions of those I term explicit American Religionists.

    "I know of no larger indictment of the world's descent into subliteracy." M-mv 2007

  • Out of print, it still circulated steadily among readers increasingly aware of the intensifying strategic alliance between the Republican Party and millions of those I term explicit American Religionists.

    Archive 2007-03-01 M-mv 2007

  • Out of print, it still circulated steadily among readers increasingly aware of the intensifying strategic alliance between the Republican Party and millions of those I term explicit American Religionists.

    ‘The American Religion’ 2007

  • Perhaps more than anything else the late British-American historian wrote, that could have been his credo - his work, especially toward the end of his career, was marked by an almost activist concern for morality, what he called an "explicit ethical engagement."

    News 2012

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