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View synonyms for subtext

subtext

[ suhb-tekst ]

noun

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


subtext

/ ˈsʌbˌtɛkst /

noun

  1. an underlying theme in a piece of writing
  2. a message which is not stated directly but can be inferred


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Other Words From

  • sub·textu·al adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of subtext1

1945–50; translation of Russian podtékst; sub-, text

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Example Sentences

Barker’s original novella, The Forbidden, first published in his self-published zine Fantasy Tales in 1985, contributed the basic plot that became Rose’s 1992 film, but none of the backstory or underlying subtext.

From Vox

In the 1960s, outdated state laws banning “cross-dressing” — and various other activities associated with homosexuality — were used as a subtext by the police to raid businesses and bars where LGBTQ people were known to hang out.

From Vox

Because DARPA funded research comes from the Department of Defense, there is an unsubtle subtext about the robots it trains to find humans.

Her style is easy to digest but will force you to contemplate its potent subtext.

The unavoidable subtext is that legislators want to use the specter of criminality to make legal things more difficult or riskier to do — things with which they take political issue.

The subtext of the clown is that life is a joke and can be snatched away at any moment.

These witnesses should be of the same gender as the employee, to avoid any suggestion of a “sexual subtext”.

And the subtext to that remark, just in case you missed it, is: and neither should he!

It is, in a way, a lighthearted routine with a dark subtext: many of those gathered are accustomed to failure at auditions.

And so on and so forth, with the ominous subtext fairly shrieking  over the pleasant and heartwarming text.

These have been converted into two equations on two lines, with the arrow subtext moved into the equations.

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