explanation
nounWord Family
- explain verb
- explanation noun
- explanatory adjective
- explicable adjective (≠ inexplicable)
- [countable, uncountable]
a statement, fact, or situation that tells you why something happened; a reason given for something 解釋；說明；闡述 The most likely explanation is that his plane was delayed. 最可能的解釋是他的飛機晚點了。 It's the only explanation that makes any sense. 這是唯一有意義的解釋。 a plausible/an alternative explanation 可信的/替代的解釋 to offer/provide an explanation 給予解釋 - explanation for something
I can't think of any possible explanation for his absence. 我想不出他缺席的任何理由。 I'm sure there's a perfectly simple explanation for this. 我相信對此有一個非常簡單的解釋。 - explanation for doing something
She didn't give an adequate explanation for being late. 她沒有給出充分的理由說明遲到的原因。 - explanation of something
The book opens with an explanation of why some drugs are banned. 本書在開篇闡述了禁用某些藥物的原因。 - explanation as to why…
an explanation as to why he had left early 關於他提早離開的原因說明 - without explanation
She left the room abruptly without explanation. 她未作解釋就突然離開了房間。 ‘I had to see you,’ he said, by way of explanation. “我當時必須來找你。” 他解釋道。
Synonyms reasonreason- explanation
- grounds
- basis
- excuse
- motive
- justification
- pretext
- reason a cause or an explanation for something that has happened or that somebody has done; a fact that makes it right or fair to do something:
He said no but he didn’t give a reason. 他說不行，但沒有說明原因。
- explanation a statement, fact or situation that tells you why something has happened; a reason given for something:
The most likely explanation is that his plane was delayed. 最可能的解釋是他的飛機晚點了。 She left the room abruptly without explanation. 她未作解釋就突然離開了房間。
- grounds (rather formal
) a good or true reason for saying, doing or believing something: 指說、做或相信某事的充分理由、根據： You have no grounds for complaint. 你沒有理由抱怨。
- basis (rather formal
) the reason why people take a particular action: 指原因、緣由： On what basis will this decision be made? 將基於何種原因作出這一決定呢？
- excuse a reason, either true or invented, that you give to explain or defend your behaviour; a good reason that you give for doing something that you want to do for other reasons:
Late again! What’s your excuse this time? 又遲到了！你這次有什麽借口？ It gave me an excuse to take the car. 這使我有理由開車去了。
- motive a reason that explains somebody’s behaviour:
There seemed to be no motive for the murder. 這起謀殺案看不出有什麽動機。
- justification (rather formal
) a good reason why something exists or is done: 指事物存在或做某事的正當理由： I can see no possible justification for any further tax increases. 我看不出還能提出什麽理由來加稅了。
grounds or justification? 用 grounds 還是 justification？ - pretext (rather formal
) a false reason that you give for doing something, usually something bad, in order to hide the real reason: 指爲掩蓋做某事（通常爲不好的事）的真正理由而找的借口、托辭： He left the party early on the pretext of having to work. 他借口有事要處理，早早離開了聚會。
- (a/an) reason/explanation/grounds/basis/excuse/motive/justification/pretext for something
- the reason/motive behind something
- on the grounds/basis/pretext of/that…
- (a) good/valid reason/explanation/grounds/excuse/motive/justification
Extra Examples‘I've worked with them before, you see,’ he added, in explanation. “你知道，我以前和他們一起工作過。”他又解釋說。 A more credible explanation now occurred to her. 現在她想到了一個更可信的解釋。 An explanation is clearly called for. 無疑需要一個解釋。 Another quite plausible explanation presented itself. 另一個頗爲合理的解釋出現了。 Her success has been so remarkable as to defy explanation. 她的成功是如此驚人，簡直無法解釋。 I can think of one possible explanation for her behaviour. 我爲她的行爲想到了一個可能的解釋。 I had no explanation for her strange behaviour. 我無法解釋她奇怪的行爲。 I suppose you deserve an explanation. 我認爲你理應得到一個解釋。 I think you owe me an explanation. 我想你欠我一個解釋。 It's the only explanation that makes any kind of sense. 這是唯一有點兒道理的解釋。 No further explanation is necessary. 沒必要再進一步解釋。 No single clear explanation emerged from the experiments. 實驗未能顯現出任一清楚的解釋。 Several possible explanations exist. 存在多種可能的解釋。 She wrote to the company demanding an explanation. 她寫信給公司要求解釋。 The men left quickly with no attempt at explanation. 這些人並未試圖解釋便很快地離開了。 The simplest explanation for his achievements lies in his greater ability and superiority over his contemporaries at college. 他之所以取得成就，最簡單的解釋就是他比大學中的同齡人能力更強，表現更優秀。 There is no generally accepted explanation of this practice. 對這一習慣做法沒有公認的解釋。 There is probably some perfectly logical explanation for their absence. 他們的缺席很可能有某種完全合理的解釋。 There was no apparent explanation for the attack. 這次攻擊事件沒有明顯的理由可作解釋。 There's sure to be a perfectly innocent explanation for all this—though I admit it looks bizarre. 雖然我承認這件事看上去有些怪異，但肯定有一個再尋常不過的解釋。 We are still waiting for a full explanation from the teacher concerned. 我們仍在等待相關老師給出充分的解釋。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- convincing
- credible
- good
- …
- have
- give (somebody)
- offer (somebody)
- …
- lie
- emerge
- occur to somebody
- …
- in explanation
- without explanation
- explanation about
- …
- an attempt at explanation
- by way of explanation
- [countable]
a statement or piece of writing that tells you how something works or makes something easier to understand 解釋性說法；說明性文字 Other parts of the book contain unnecessarily lengthy explanations. 這本書的其他部分包含不必要的冗長解釋。 - explanation of how, what, etc….
For a full explanation of how the machine works, turn to page 5. 關於機器工作原理的詳細說明，請翻閱第 5 頁。 - explanation of something
The teacher gave the children a detailed explanation of the story. 老師給孩子們詳細解釋了這個故事。 - explanation about something
He entered into a technical explanation about software and programming. 他開始從技術的角度解釋軟件和編程。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- convincing
- credible
- good
- …
- have
- give (somebody)
- offer (somebody)
- …
- lie
- emerge
- occur to somebody
- …
- in explanation
- without explanation
- explanation about
- …
- an attempt at explanation
- by way of explanation
Word Originlate Middle English: from Latin explanatio(n-), from the verb explanare, based on planus ‘plain’.