🇫🇷French Source WordCode: FR

sous-texte

Pronunciation / Transliteration: su-tɛkst

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Subtext/ˈsʌb.tɛkst/
nounCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #8500 frequency
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🇫🇷 Example Sentence in French:

"Il y a un fort sous-texte politique dans ce film."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    An underlying and often implicit meaning, theme, or intention in a piece of writing, speech, or conversation.

    "If you read between the lines, you can easily detect the political subtext in her casual remarks."
  2. 2

    The implicit or unspoken thoughts, motives, and emotions of characters in a dramatic work or performance.

    "The actors conveyed deep tension through their body language, loading every quiet scene with heavy dramatic subtext."

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Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Coined in the mid-20th century, the term combines the Latin prefix 'sub-' (meaning under, beneath, or below) with the English word 'text' (from Latin 'textus', meaning a weave or structure). It was originally popularized in theatrical contexts by drama practitioners like Konstantin Stanislavski to describe the implicit meaning underlying the spoken dialogue of a script.

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