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Glite Dictionary
to mansplain

to mansplain

3 9.3
A man talks to a woman as if she knows less, ignoring her knowledge
  • verb
  • /ˈmænˌspleɪn/
  • Offensive
: hacer mansplaining (informal, ofensivo)
  • He attempted to mansplain the basics of car maintenance to her, ignoring her prior experience as a mechanic.

But yeah, I think the key is not that I'm trying to mansplain it to you girls.

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Examples

  • Ironically, he lectured—or is it mansplained?—me about this very thing.

    Blog text (24)

  • But no, wait... now that you have mansplained to me that being aware of my limitations—and the larger context of my situation—is the same as thinking I am weak, I am sure you are right and I am wrong.

    Blog text (16)

  • I was in bed with my girlfriend, and I was trying to mansplain to her that, you know, we...

    The Big Sick (2017)

  • Please continue to mansplain to me what I'm supposed to be doing.

    Stuber (2019)

  • Please mansplain sexism to me right now.

    The Lost City (2022)

  • Did you just mansplain what was in Jennifer's head before a debate started?

    Blog text (31)

  • Do you realize that you basically just mansplained patriarchy to a group of feminists?

    Blog text (19)

  • More to the point, you don't get to mansplain to a woman that "oh, sweetie, you're overreacting."

    Blog text (2)

  • Prove your point without resorting to gaslighting or mansplaining!

    Blog text (3)

  • Refrain from mansplaining.

    Blog text (10)

Synonyms

mansplaining
vsto mansplain
  • Offensive
1 8.9

Treating a woman as if she knows less when explaining something

is the verb form focusing on doing that condescending explanation
to speak with condescension
vsto mansplain
1 8.3

Talk to someone in a way that shows you feel better than them

targets someone of the other gender and ignores the listener's knowledge

Antonyms

to listen
∞ 1.0

Pay attention to sounds or speech to hear and understand them

How Condescending

to patronize
  • Offensive
33 7.0
to mansplain
  • Offensive
3 9.3
to talk down to
  • Offensive
19 6.6
to explain
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

mansplain infinitive
mansplained past
mansplained past participle
mansplaining present participle
mansplains third person singular

Morphology

mansplain = man + explain (transparent) = man + splain

The sense is straightforwardly built from 'man' + 'explain' (via the clipped element 'splain'); learners can infer a man doing a condescending explanation.

Etymology

The word mansplain mixes man and explain and literally means 'man' + 'to explain'. It describes a man explaining something in a rude, 'I know more than you' way to someone who already understands the topic, which is why we use it for explanations that ignore the other person's knowledge.