subtitle

1 of 2

noun

sub·​ti·​tle ˈsəb-ˌtī-tᵊl 

1

: a secondary or explanatory title

2

: a printed statement or fragment of dialogue appearing on the screen between the scenes of a silent movie or appearing as a translation at the bottom of the screen during the scenes of a movie or television show in a foreign language

subtitle

2 of 2

verb

subtitled; subtitling; subtitles

transitive verb

: to give a subtitle to

Examples of subtitle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

One carried subtitles burned into the image; the other did not. —Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 16 May 2026

In a 2025 legal complaint, the ACLU alleged that HireVue’s platform didn’t provide adequate subtitles in a promotion interview for a deaf member of the accessibility team at Intuit, the financial-software company. —Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 3 May 2026

Verb

The season, subtitled Pearl Islands, aired in the fall of 2003, saw Fairplay, now 52, finish in third place. —Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 15 May 2026

There’s a whole life around the world for French-language productions, subtitled, that travel. —Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 15 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1815, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1830, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for subtitle

• phytol
• title
• vital
• entitle
• recital

Kids Definition

subtitle

noun

sub·​ti·​tle

ˈsəb-ˌtīt-ᵊl

1

: a secondary or explanatory title

2

: a printed statement or bit of dialogue appearing on the screen between the scenes of a silent movie or at the bottom of the screen during the scenes of a television show or movie for viewers with hearing loss or as a translation of a foreign language

subtitle verb