mansplain

What it means

When a man explains something to a woman in a condescending, oversimplified way, often assuming she doesn't already understand it, sometimes about a topic she actually knows better than he does. It's a blend of "man" and "explain."

Examples

• He tried to mansplain my own job to me, incredible.
• She's a surgeon and this dude is mansplaining anatomy to her.
• Please don't mansplain childbirth to a room full of mothers.
• I love being mansplained the plot of a book I wrote.

Where it comes from

Inspired by Rebecca Solnit's 2008 essay "Men Explain Things to Me"; the blended word "mansplain" emerged on feminist blogs and Twitter shortly after and was named a word of the year contender by 2014.

Related slang