Word.ws English Dictionary

transplaining

transplaining is the present participle of transplain.

Meaning of transplain

Verb

transplain (third-person singular simple present transplains, present participle transplaining, simple past and past participle transplained)

  1. (Internet, colloquial, derogatory, usually) To explain transgender issues to a cis person (as a trans person or ally), especially in a condescending, heavy-handed, or preachy manner.
    • When you lead with story instead of education, then it becomes absorbed emotionally and intuitively so you don't really have to explain things. I don't think people respond as well to being transplained.2015, Rhys Ernst, quoted in Mehera Bonner, "Rhys Ernst on the Pop Culture Trans Movement", Marie Claire, 21 August 2015

Questions about transplaining

What is transplaining the present participle of?
Transplaining is the present participle of transplain.

Words near transplaining in the dictionary

  1. transplacing
  2. transplain
  3. transplained
  4. transplainer
  5. transplainers
  6. transplaining
  7. transplains
  8. transplanckian
  9. transplanetary
  10. transplant
  11. transplantabilities

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: transplaining (page history and authors); transplain (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “transplaining.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/transplaining. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.