'splain

¹

or splain

[ spleyn ]

verb (used with or without object)

, Informal.

1. a shortened form of explain.

-splain

²

1. a combining form extracted from mansplain and meaning “to explain or comment on something in a condescending, overconfident, and often inaccurate or oversimplified manner, from the perspective of the group one identifies with,” as in ladysplain whitesplain

   racism being whitesplained to a person of color.

Word History and Origins

Origin of 'splain¹

By shortening and alteration of explain

Example Sentences

"I'll 'splain ever'thing as soon as we get to your rooms," promised Dorothy.

From Project Gutenberg

They isnt enough words in langwitch, says he, t splain things.

From Project Gutenberg

And I drap in, major, ter 'splain ter you dat I'se gwine ter gently draw outen politics, yassah.

From Project Gutenberg

Yes, but I don't know that anybody kin 'splain your daughter allus being with Mr. Thomas, who ain't even divo'ced from his wife.

From Project Gutenberg

Oh, Mr. Raynor, I do hope an' pray he see fit to give you a chanc't to 'splain 'way the diffe'nces!

From Project Gutenberg

Words That Use -splain

What does -splain mean?

The combining form –splain is used like a suffix meaning “to explain or comment on something in a condescending or overconfident manner.” It is occasionally used in slang terms. In most instances, the first element of the word describes the perspective of the “explainer,” e.g., mansplain.

The form –splain comes from the word mansplain, meaning “to explain something to a woman in a condescending, overconfident, and often inaccurate or oversimplified manner, typically to a woman already knowledgeable about the topic.” The form –splain in this sense is extracted from explain.

Examples of -splain

An example of a word that features –splain is whitesplain, “to comment on the minority experience or explain racism to a person of color in a condescending or blaming way.”

The white– part of the word here refers to white people. As we have seen, –splain means “to explain in a condescending manner.” Whitesplain literally means “white people explaining [racism] in a condescending manner.”

What are some words that use the combining form –splain?

• Blacksplain
• gaysplain
• Jewsplain
• ladysplain
• richsplain
• womansplain

What are some other forms that –splain may be commonly confused with?

• -speak
• -sphere
• -sploitation

Break it down!

Given the meaning of –splain, what does richsplain mean?