From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsubtextsub‧text /ˈsʌbtekst/ noun [countable usually singular] MEANINGa hidden or second meaning behind someone’s words or actions What’s the subtext here? What’s the writer really saying?
Examples from the Corpus
subtext• Potentially explosive subtext -- Annie was sexually abused as a child -- is pretty much left in the background.• One subtext of the book is accepting one's ethnic identity.• Those were just some of the subtexts in the 64-team draw.• Underneath the scorn, the subtext is that Morrissey's art lacks a vital virility.• Whatever their text, the subtext was always this: this is my will.• Even in this harsh, modern commercial world, this remains a vital subtext of our own research. 