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

Meet the candidates in WCCO's election guide for Demuth and the governor's race explainer. — CBS News, 3 Nov. 2026

Gregory, after an interview with GDOT Commissioner Russell McMurry, also wrote a shorter explainer with details on what tolls could cost and plans for future I-285 toll lanes. — Doug Turnbull, AJC.com, 25 Oct. 2026

Latest News from Vulture explainers 26 mins ago What the H3ll Is Going on With Ethan Klein Hila Klein accused her husband of an affair, and the couple’s podcast staff is standing with her. — Britina Cheng, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026

In 2020, Fauci, newly famous as the COVID pandemic’s explainer-in-chief, called Kramer, who was dying. — Michael Schulman, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 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