R E F E R E N C E S
Elaboration 1. worked out with great care and nicety of detail; executed with great minuteness. 2. marked by intricate and often excessive detail; complicated. -v.i. 3. to work out carefully or minutely: develop to perfection. 4. to produce or develop by labor. -v.i. 5. to add details in writing, speaking, etc.; give additional or fuller treatment [usually fl. by on or upon]: to elaborate upon a theme. [< L élabórat(us) (ptp. of élabóráre) worked out. See e-, LABOR, -ATE1].
-Syn. 1. perfected, painstaking. 2. ornate, intricate. Elaborate, Labored, Studied apply to that which is worked out in great detail. That which is Elabaorate is characterized by great, sometimes even excessive, nicety or minuteness of detail: elaborate preparations for a banuet; an elaborate apology. That which is labored is marked by excessive, often forced or uninspired, effort: a labored explanation, style of writing. That which is studied is accomplished with care and deliberation, and is done purposely, sometimes even having been rehearsed: a studied pose. 3. 5. refine, improve. -Ant. 1. simple.
[Urdang, Laurence, ed. Random House Dictionary of The English Language. New York: Random House,1968.]
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