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

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

And look for dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stone’s critics and reporters. —Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 30 Sep. 2025

Rohal had included an AI explainer in the press notes for the film, but in order to clarify his message on a complex topic directly with moviegoers, the director shared his detailed breakdown with Variety. —William Earl, Variety, 29 Sep. 2025

Hopefully, the explainer below makes sense of everything to come. —Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 28 Sep. 2025

Writers Against the War On Gaza (WAWOG) Toronto released this explainer, which also describes personal attacks on boycotting authors made by the prize’s director, Elana Rabinovitch. —Literary Hub september 26, Literary Hub, 26 Sep. 2025

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