explainer

noun

ex·​plain·​er ik-ˈsplā-nər 

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

… a whizzy economics explainer titled "Ways & Means" …

—Sana Krasikov

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

News organizations rushed out explainers about her unusual role in the White House. — Adam Beam, AJC.com, 20 Aug. 2026

Follow Di Placido for more meme explainers, television reviews, film theories and deep dives into digital culture. — Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026

The average consumer is bombarded from every direction with news and shorts and explainers and how-tos. — Jeanna Bryner, Scientific American, 18 Aug. 2026

This quick video explainer highlights where employers are hiring and the occupations seeing the strongest demand statewide. — James Ward, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1579, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for explainer

• abstainer
• campaigner
• complainer
• container
• coplanar
• detainer
• maintainer
• nonplanar
• retainer
• sustainer
• entertainer
• gainer