Words / B2

KLAR-uh-feye/ˈklærəfaɪ/

To clarify is to make a meaning easier to follow — you do not add new facts so much as remove fog. Explain can be longer and fuller; clarify is the request when one point is muddy (Could you clarify…?). Typical objects: a point, a position, the wording. Clarification is the noun; it is polite in meetings and emails, slightly formal at a party.

Meaning

To make something easier to understand.

Examples

• “Could you clarify the last point?”
• “Let me clarify what the deadline actually is.”
• “The footnote clarifies who paid for the study.”

Good to know

clarify a point / the meaning. Polite request: Could you clarify…? Noun: clarification.

Near in meaning

explain

New