sealion

See also: sea-lion and sea lion

English

Etymology

The verb is from “The Terrible Sea Lion”, a 2014 strip in the webcomic Wondermark, in which a character expresses a dislike of sea lions and a passing sea lion repeatedly, intrusively asks the character to justify this.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsiːlaɪən/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

sealion (third-person singular simple present sealions, present participle sealioning, simple past and past participle sealioned)

1. (Internet slang, derogatory) To intrude on a conversation with disingenuous questions in an attempt to engage in unwanted debate as a form of harassment.
   • 2015 January 28, Andrew Wheeler, “Agent Carter’ Recap, Episode 4: The Blitzkrieg Button”, in Comics Alliance:

     There, Peggy speaks for every angry marginalised person who’s ever been sealioned or tone-policed in a disagreement.

   • 2015 March 24, Sarah Seltzer, “Beyond Mansplaining: A New Lexicon of Misogynist Trolling Behaviors”, in Flavorwire:

     The purpose of sealioning never to actually learn or become more informed.

   • 2015 April 1, Arthur Chu, “Trevor Noah and the Toxicity of Twitter: A Cocktail Party Conversation That’s Being Refereed”, in The Daily Beast:

     I can attest to reactionary right-wing trolls being the black belt masters of Internet pile-ons, or as Wondermark has indelibly dubbed the practice, “sealioning.”

   • 2024 November 19, Cathy Young, “The dangers of going too far to curb online harassment”, in Washington Post:

     Popular definitions of harassment also extend to “sealioning” — a recently coined term based on an Internet comic, “The Terrible Sea Lion” — which seems to mean little more than unwelcome attempts to engage someone in debate.

Alternative forms

• sea lion

Noun

sealion (plural sealions)

1. (uncommon) Alternative form of sea lion
2. (Internet slang, derogatory) One who engages in sealioning.
   • 2014 March 12, Glenn Fleishman, “Twitter takes aim at trolls—and promises more”, in Boing Boing:

     Randi's list is a key reason I've been able to continue to use Twitter, as it prevents relentless ideological sealions from crowding my mentions.

Anagrams

• Eliason, Selonia, Sloanie, aloesin, alosine, anisole, læsion