explainer

noun

ex·​plain·​er ik-ˈsplā-nər How to pronounce explainer (audio)
plural explainers
: a person or thing that explains something: such as
a
: a person who makes something understandable
Modern day presidents must be good explainers of a complex world …Jonathan Alter et al.
b
: an article, podcast, graphic, etc., that explains something complex or not widely understood : an in-depth treatment of a topic
Each half-hour episode contained a big explainer of a complicated issue. The list of topics sounds like the arcane scraps from the cutting-room floor of most newsrooms—the amount of hidden sugar in food, civil forfeiture, the false hopes of lotteries, the failure of the American government to safeguard people who served as interpreters in Iraq and Afghanistan.David Carr
Inside, the issue contains a long explainer piece on how the subprime mess came to be and how it wreaked havoc on Citi, Wall Street and especially Merrill.Yvette Kantrow

Examples of explainer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Follow Di Placido for more meme explainers, television reviews, film theories and deep dives into digital culture. Dani Di Placido, Forbes, 17 Mar. 2025 The Department of Justice expunged the January 6th insurrection from its website, and whitehouse.gov took down an explainer page about the Constitution. Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2025 Today, Explained Understand the world with a daily explainer plus the most compelling stories of the day, compiled by news editor Sean Collins. Dylan Scott, Vox, 7 Mar. 2025 Further down on Cloudy’s timeline is one of those explainer videos where some schmuck speaks with authority into their phone’s front-facing camera. Meaghan Garvey, Pitchfork, 27 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for explainer

Word History

First Known Use

1579, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of explainer was in 1579

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Cite this Entry

“Explainer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/explainer. Accessed 22 Mar. 2025.

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