Splain

verb, slang

verb, slang ·1 syllable ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb

1
Apheretic form of explain. dialectal, informal
""Howsomever, dey 'ranged der 'fairs, en splained der bizness.""
2
To condescendingly explain something, often extensively, especially to someone that knows more about it; for example, to mansplain, whitesplain, etc. slang
"Those who splain may have the intent of helping the situation, but the actual impact of their actions can feel condescending or insulting."

Example

""Howsomever, dey 'ranged der 'fairs, en splained der bizness.""

Etymology

Etymology 1

Apheretic form of explain.

Etymology 2

Partly from the preceding sense, partly from -splain (after mansplaining).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.