elaborated

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of elaborate.

   The author elaborated her argument across three detailed chapters.

   By the time the committee met, the proposal had been elaborated into a full report.

   Note

   One spelling does two jobs. It is the simple past (she elaborated her argument) and also the participle after have or be (the proposal had been elaborated). Most often the verb takes an object, something developed in detail. Sometimes it stands alone, meaning to expand on a point, as when a speaker is asked for more and elaborated at length.

2. 2
   adjectiverhetoric

   Expanded and developed with added detail and complexity.

   The committee adopted the elaborated version of the proposal.

   His elaborated theory addressed objections the original draft had ignored.

   Similardeveloped, detailed, refined

   Oppositesimplified

   Note

   In rhetoric, the word describes a point that has been developed rather than simply stated: an argument worked out with its supporting detail. Unlike the past-tense verb, it can be graded, as in more elaborated or most elaborated. It also keeps a sense of work done. An elaborated plan has been built up step by step, while an elaborate one is merely intricate or showy.

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