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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Hammond has written and edited explainers on a number of health and wellness topics, including racial disparities in HIV treatment, the metabolic benefits of cold exposure, how the flu shot works, and solutions for seasonal dermatology woes. Tom Gavin, EverydayHealth.com, 18 June 2025 Gen Zers often prefer visual learning—think TikTok-style explainers, interactive tools and gamified education on topics like credit scores and investing. Monica Hovsepian, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025 The stock also continues to attract tremendous interest and attention from individual investors, dominating coverage across YouTube (GOOGL) finance channels, Reddit threads, and TikTok explainers. Catherine Baab, Quartz, 5 June 2025 The 6-GHz band enables faster speeds and reduced latency for devices that support Wi-Fi 6E (read our Wi-Fi 6E explainer for more). Simon Hill, Wired News, 1 June 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 26 Jun. 2025.

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