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View synonyms for

subtext

[ suhb-tekst ]

noun

  1. the underlying or implicit meaning, as of a literary work.


subtext

/ ˈʌˌɛ /

noun

  1. an underlying theme in a piece of writing
  2. a message which is not stated directly but can be inferred
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other Word Forms

  • ܲ·ٱt· adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of subtext1

1945–50; translation of Russian ǻé; sub-, text
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“I think it's a musing about when violence would be justified with a kind of subtext critical of the administration.”

From

As O’Toole also observes, Trump’s anti-European animus has a potent psychosexual subtext, simultaneously rooted in right-wing American macho posturing and his own infantile sense of narcissistic injury.

From

It went well enough, I suppose — if your standards are low and you’re willing to ignore the complicated and sometimes painful subtext.

From

Like that movie about a girl who befriends a super pig being hunted by meat industry overlords — along with almost all of his other work — Bong is completely uninterested in the concept of subtext.

From

I shouldn’t read subtext into a cameo Hackman knocked out in two days.

From

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