thinsplain

English

Etymology

thin +‎ -splain, after the pattern of mansplain.

Verb

thinsplain (third-person singular simple present thinsplains, present participle thinsplaining, simple past and past participle thinsplained)

1. (informal, derogatory) To explain to a fat person (as a thin person) in a condescending manner, presuming the listener's inferior understanding.
   • 2014, Daniel S. Goldbert, "Fatness, Medicalization, and Stigma: On the Need to Do Better", Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics, Volume 4, Number 2, Summer 2014, page 117:

     The two strategies I rely on for avoiding thinsplaining are related: first, to listen carefully (“listen thrice before speaking once”) to the voices of the writers of this remarkable collection of stories, […]

   • 2019, Braelin Pantel, "Students of Size: An Exploratory Case Study on a Hidden Climate", University of Northern Colorado, page 78:

     As someone who is currently unlikely to be perceived as a person of size, I risked thinsplaining throughout this research process.

   • 2021, Judith Bridges, “Explaining '-splain' in digital discourse”, in Language Under Discussion, volume 6, number 1, page 21:

     When "thin girl" thinsplains about her woes of gaining weight and calls herself "ugly and fat" in response to her body changing […] , it suggests that, for one, she equates fat with ugly, and also that she is unaware of others' experiences of fat stigma.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:thinsplain.