WHITESPLAIN Definition & Meaning

whitesplain

[ hwahyt-spleyn, wahyt‐ ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used with or without object)

(of a white person) to comment on the minority experience or explain racism to a person of color in a condescending or blaming way, as to point out accommodating behaviors that the victim of racism might have adopted to defuse interracial conflict:
I know what driving while Black is like, so don't you dare whitesplain it to me!

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of whitesplain¹

First recorded in 2010–15; white ( def ) + -splain ( def )

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“Most of my secure, senior colleagues—white men—encourage gradualism, and whitesplain to me that ‘change takes time.’”

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“Most of my secure, senior colleagues—white men—encourage gradualism, and whitesplain to me that ‘change takes time.’

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Halisi Vinson, executive director of the Colorado Democratic Party, said Hanks‘ comments were a way to “whitesplain the historical experience of Black people.”

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Halisi Vinson, executive director of the Colorado Democratic Party, said Hanks’ comments were a way to “whitesplain the historical experience of Black people.”

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But when Anderson called it a “llama,” and Kimmel corrected him, he snapped, “Don’t whitesplain to me, Jimmy! It should have been a pit bull. But no, not tonight!”

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