articulate
- 01 C1 Advanced
to put your thoughts or feelings into clear words so others understand them.
to formulate and express an idea, theory, or feeling fluently and coherently.
Simple“It can be hard to articulate exactly why you feel nervous before a big speech.”
In context“The CEO struggled to articulate a clear vision for the company's future during the emergency board meeting.”
UsageOften used with a direct object representing an abstract concept like a 'vision', 'need', or 'feeling'.
- 02 C2 Proficiency
to connect two parts together with a joint so they can move.
to form a joint or connect by joints; to build something so that it can bend at specific intervals.
Simple“The robot's arm is designed to articulate at the shoulder and elbow.”
In context“The skeletal remains show where the femur articulates with the pelvis, providing clues about how the creature moved.”
UsageIn anatomy, it often takes the preposition 'with'.
Antonyms
Usage clearly articulate
“Yet still incontrovertibly very good, for reasons that have long been internalised but which still feel hard to articulate.”
“Helping young children name their emotions and describing a given situation can help them develop the vocabulary to articulate their feelings.”
The adjective is first attested in 1531, the verb in 1551; borrowed from Latin articulātus (“distinct, articulated, jointed”), perfect passive participle of articulō, see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3). Regular participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.