Meanings
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of womansplain
- derogatoryinformaluncountableCondescending explanation of something by a woman, particularly to a man.
Many men have reported a drastic rise in womansplaining.
2017 December 19, “The Rise Of The 'Feminazis'”, in Youth Ki Awaaz5 more examples
The War on Women perpetrators keep trying to tell us that government not funding something equates to government banning something. That must be womansplaining, I guess? Except I’m not willing to have women made out to be idiots. So maybe “liberalsplaining.”
2015, Joy Pullmann, quoted by "David C Kifer", Tolerance (on newsgroup alt.quotations)2015, "Chris Davis", quoted by Emily Crane, The moment that left the new Prime Minister scratching his head: Tanya Plibersek accuses Malcolm Turnbull of 'mansplaining' during Question Time… but what does it mean? (in Mail Online) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3237538/Tanya-Plibersek-accuses-Malcolm-Turnbull-mansplaining-question-time-does-mean.html Womansplaining: When a woman incorrectly explains something, but you're not allowed to tell her without being accused of mansplaining.
The minister took offence with the accusation, saying he'd be judged much more harshly if the tables were reversed and he accused a woman of womansplaining.
2016, Daniel Peters, “Minister accused of MANSPLAINING by a female senator calls her a 'hypocrite' as boring parliamentary committee hearing turns into a fight about hipster language”, in Mail OnlineAndrea’s righteous womansplaining of Pink Floyd to Richie is worth repeating in full: “Your point-of-sales strategies are archaic. Your marketing makes you look like a vacuum-cleaner company. Dark Side of the Moon doesn’t even have a single on it and it’s a blockbuster! […]
2016, Dan Martin, “Vinyl recap: episode five - the high-end soap that's proving lovably trashy”, in The GuardianShe offered her own story to warn me about what can happen when a Christian invests too much in her work and too little in finding a spouse. It was a bad case of womansplaining.
2016, Katelyn Beaty, A Woman's Place: A Christian Vision for Your Calling in the Office, the Home, and the WorldSynonyms: femsplaining
Synonyms & antonyms
nounCondescending explanation of something by a woman, particularly to a man.
Origin
Blend of woman + explaining, modelled on mansplaining.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
womansplaining. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/womansplaining
“womansplaining.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/womansplaining. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “womansplaining,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/womansplaining.
Source: womansplaining on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.