Used by University lecturers to say they disagree with a piece of literature while not outwardly expressing that fact. There is often a long pause before this line is delivered often with pointless hand gestures.
Lecturer: I find David Starkey's work...................problematic.
by NagarPhunga April 3, 2017
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A catch-all insult used to negatively describe something you don't like, but can't describe why.
"That TV show is so problematic"
"Really? What problems does it cause?"
"umm... It's just problematic okay?! Don't ask me to give actual evidence and stuff..."
by L'appelDuVoid December 30, 2022
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A tired and passive aggressive word used by sociology majors when they are too afraid to call someone racist, sexist, or homophobic.
Janet: I learned in Sociology 101 that David Duke is problematic.

Me: I think you mean racist.

Janet: Now you’re being problematic with your mansplaining.

Me: Just shut up.
by HM2013 April 6, 2019
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The go-to adjective for propagators of cancel culture to describe when someone has crossed the proverbial line. It sounds scary enough to spook corporate entities away, yet vague enough to simply be thrown around without adequate explanation.

Most often used by white 5th wave feminists on Twitter with an unchecked white savior complex. Said demographic is also commonly associated with festering daddy issues, thinly-veiled sexual deprivation, the glorification of mental illness, a sad addiction to performative activism, and the compulsive need to search for racist undertones in anything and everything.
Meg💛🍒🦋(she/her): "John Mulaney seems pretty problematic but like i couldn't tell you why, probably because he's a cis wh*te m*n sksksksksksksks. My paypal is in my bio :)"
by forsenbased April 9, 2021
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A word used by young progressives when they don't like certain facts, but have no counter argument.
Someone: You know, only 3% of Latinos use Latinx, and many find Latinx offensive.

Progressive: What you just said is so problematic. how can you be so racist, sexist and transphobic?
by 1325386 January 15, 2022
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The ridiculous act of having things so good in society that one must make up reasons for conflicts or problems.
We must problematize the fact that the sky is blue, it's unfair to the other colors of the visible light spectrum. It's called ROYGBIV Karen not Blue Supremacy!
by DeezNutz)) November 2, 2018
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