subtext meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

subtext

noun

Etymology From sub- + text.

Literature, Media, Publishing An implicit meaning of a text, often a literary one, or a speech or dialogue.

Everyone heard the announcement, but not everyone agrees on what the subtext was.
The word dick has meant penis since the 1890s, but Chester Gould’s private detective “Dick Tracy” has no puerile subtext related to this word.2011, Patrick Spedding, James Lambert, “Fanny Hill, Lord Fanny, and the Myth of Metonymy”, in Studies in Philology, volume 108, number 1, page 113:

1 more example

While his major plays appear on the surface to have little plot, their subtext is full of overheated romance and melodrama.2012 July 27, Jason Zinoman, “Chekhov's Banana Peel”, in Slate, archived from the original on 25 Feb 2022:

verb

Etymology From sub- + text.

To create or use a subtext.

All the participants used subtexting as an important viewing strategy of mainstream films. We are always looking for innuendoes and cues either with certain individual characters or between female characters.1996, Womonspace News: Our Voice in the Lesbian Community: Dec 1996:
Subtexting is the technique that every author needs to know in order to create dialogue that is rich in meaning while sounding natural, for in real life, this is the way people often converse.2002, Collins, Brandilyn, Getting into character : seven secrets a novelist can learn from actors, →OCLC: