villainsplain

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verb

Of a villain in a fictional work, to explain the details of one's evil plans or actions, or the motivations that drive them.

Scrabble 18

Meanings

verbvillainsplain (third-person singular simple present villainsplains, present participle villainsplaining, simple past and past participle villainsplained)

present singular third person villainsplains · participle present villainsplaining · participle past villainsplained · past villainsplained

  1. informalOf a villain in a fictional work, to explain the details of one's evil plans or actions, or the motivations that drive them.

    Are you done villainsplaining?

    2019 April 5, Steven Katz, “In the Woods”, in Kate Dennis, director, The Tick, season 2, episode 9, spoken by Overkill (Scott Speiser)
    1 more example

    There’s a moment when John Sill gazes at the “Mona Lisa,” which he has stolen from the Louvre. The painting, he villainsplains to Kitu, is artistically unimpressive but nevertheless “a work of genius. Marketing genius.”

    2022 November 1, Molly Young, “In a New Novel, Percival Everett Riffs Gleefully on 007”, in The New York Times

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

villainsplain. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/villainsplain

MLA

“villainsplain.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/villainsplain. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “villainsplain,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/villainsplain.

Source: villainsplain on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.