a word used by antis and gatekeepers in fandom to describe a fictional pairing (or even just a character) that they do not personally like. often used as an excuse to attack and gaslight shippers (people who do like the paring) and other fans.

some reasons for things being "problematic" are that they are considered abusive, the characters are/were enemies, one is a villain, there is a large age gap, there is a small age gap, the relationship is incestuous, the relationship *seems* incestuous, one character is a minor, both characters are minors, the anti does not like the ship personally, the relationship is gay and loved by women fans, the relationship is straight...the list goes on.

Anti: "you shouldn't ship reylo, it's very problematic."
Shipper: "i really shouldn't indulge you, but how?"
Anti: "it's abusive because they're enemies and kylo ren is a fascist. also rey is child-coded and they are cousins."
Shipper: "uh...what?"

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Problematic - slang

A failing or inoperative automatic transmission.

When asked by the service technician at the garage if his automobile transmission was a stick shift, Bubba, having just attained a GED, replied, "No, problematic."

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Problematic

used mainly by the woke group of people. 99% of the time it is used to call out a non-existent problem in society, or by antis to complain about fiction they don't like.

Bob: hey dude I just saw the dumbest vice article. they are claiming losing weight is "problematic" and "fatphobic"
Steve: I fucking hate vice, it's like they are entirely staffed by a bunch of 14 year old white girls that get offended by everything

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Problematic

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 :)"

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Problematic

Secular wokespeak for "blasphemous"

The language you're using is problematic.

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