Chinese symbol for “subtext”
潜台词
qián tái cí
Traditional: 潛臺詞
unspoken dialogue in a play, left for the audience to infer; subtext; (fig.) implicit assertion
The closest CC-CEDICT match for subtext is 潜台词 (qián tái cí), defined as: unspoken dialogue in a play, left for the audience to infer; subtext; (fig.) implicit assertion.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Traditional forms
Related words
Other words that share a character with 潜台词.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 潜力 (潛力) | qián lì | potential; latent capacity |
| 潜在 (潛在) | qián zài | hidden; potential |
| 潜艇 (潛艇) | qián tǐng | a submarine |
| 潜水 (潛水) | qián shuǐ | to dive; to go under water |
| 潜入 (潛入) | qián rù | to submerge; to infiltrate |
| 潜伏 (潛伏) | qián fú | to hide; to cover up |
| 平台 (平臺) | píng tái | platform; terrace |
| 电视台 (電視台) | diàn shì tái | television station |
| 歌词 (歌詞) | gē cí | song lyric; lyrics |
See also: Japanese symbol for “subtext”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.