Synonyms for explore
Most common
All synonyms
Verb
examine, investigate, research, search, inquire, enquire UK, scrutinize, scrutinise UK, probe, ransack, sound, rummage
Definitions
- v. 1
To examine or investigate something systematically.
The committee has been exploring alternative solutions to the problem at hand.
Related words
- Word family
- explorable explorer exploration explorative exploratory
Forms
- Past participle
- explored
e.g. explored → examined, investigated, researched, searched…
Example sentences
- investigate A committee was constituted to investigate prices.
- examine We dissected a frog to examine its internal organs.
- inquire He went to inquire about the local train schedule.
- scrutinize We're going to scrutinize everything.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| explore | rising | |
| investigate | steady | |
| examine | steady | |
| inquire | falling | |
| scrutinize | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 5 letters
- sound1, probe1
- 6 letters
- search1
- 7 letters
- examine3, inquire2, enquire3, rummage2, ransack2
- 8 letters
- research2
- 10 letters
- scrutinize3, scrutinise
- 11 letters
- investigate4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (examine3 = 3 syllables).