Meanings
comparative more expository · superlative most expository
- Serving to explain, explicate, or elucidate; expositive; of or relating to exposition.
Practicing expository writing will teach you to explain complex concepts clearly.
2 more examples
The zombie scenes are reminiscent of what you might see on a show like The Walking Dead, short bursts of extreme violence and gore punctuating expository dialogue scenes where the survivors try to figure out how they’re going to get from point A to point B.
2017 February 23, Katie Rife, “The Girl With All The Gifts tries to put a fresh spin on overripe zombie clichés”, in The Onion AV ClubThe expository, nonmetaphorical lyrics to “Cop Killer” were dedicated to the Los Angeles Police Department: The narrator puts on black gloves and a ski mask, turns off the headlights of his car, and prepares to shoot himself some cops.
2022, Chuck Klosterman, The Nineties, New York: Penguin Press, →ISBNSynonyms: expositorial
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveServing to explain, explicate, or elucidate; expositive; of or relating to exposition.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveserving to expound or set forth
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Ancient Greek ἐκθετικός
- ἐκθετικός (ekthetikós)serving to explain
Dutch uitleggend, verklarend
- uitleggendserving to explain
- verklarendserving to explain
Spanish expositivo, expositor
- expositivoserving to explain
- expositorserving to explain
Swedish förklarande
- förklarandeserving to explain
Cite this entry
expository. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/expository
“expository.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/expository. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “expository,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/expository.
Source: expository on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.