unspoken message
Between the lines
An unspoken message is communication conveyed without words—through gesture, expression, tone, or implication rather than explicit statement.
The phrase often describes what someone really means beneath their surface words: Her silence carried an unspoken message of disapproval.
It can also refer to understood expectations that need not be voiced: The unspoken message was clear: don't mention the divorce.
- subtextImplicit meaning beneath words
- hidden meaningUnspoken message beneath surface
- implicationIndirect suggestion or consequence
- hintIndirect suggestion
- innuendoOblique disparaging remark
undertone · silence · silent treatment · glance · knowing look · raised eyebrow · gesture · tension · elephant in room · reading between lines · read the room · loaded · meaningful · eye contact · body language · insinuation · unsaid · coded
- innuendoinnuendo, sexual innuendo, double entendre, double meaning, implied meaning
- subtexthidden meaning, implied meaning, veiled meaning, subtext, innuendo
- implicationsimplication, implied meaning, inference, connotation, innuendo