Caption
noun / verb 3rd person singular: captions, present participle: captioning, past/past participle: captioned
Definition
1. Text written below or beside a picture, photo, or illustration to explain it.
2. Words shown at the bottom of a screen translating or transcribing dialogue.
3. (verb) to provide explanatory text for an image or video.
2. Words shown at the bottom of a screen translating or transcribing dialogue.
3. (verb) to provide explanatory text for an image or video.
Context Alive
She scrolled through the old family album, pausing at a faded photograph of people she didn’t recognize. Turning to her grandmother for help, she noticed a handwritten caption beneath the image identifying everyone by name and the year it was taken, which finally helped her understand who these distant relatives were and why the photo had been treasured for so many decades.
Meanings
4 meanings 1 Text explaining a picture or photo — VERY COMMON Common ▼
This is the meaning you’ll encounter most often. A caption is the short text underneath or beside a photograph, illustration, or graphic that tells you what you’re looking at. In newspapers, magazines, textbooks, and social media, you’ll see captions everywhere. When you post a photo on Instagram with a funny comment below it, that comment is your caption. It gives context, adds meaning, or simply describes the image.
Vivid ExampleShe spent ten minutes trying to write the perfect caption for her vacation photo, eventually settling on a simple joke about needing more sunscreen, which ended up getting more likes than the picture itself.
2 Subtitles on a screen — VERY COMMON Common ▼
When you watch a movie or video with text appearing at the bottom showing what people are saying, those are captions. They’re essential for deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers and helpful when watching foreign films or videos in noisy places. You’ve probably turned on captions while watching Netflix late at night with the volume low, reading along instead of listening.
Vivid ExampleBecause the café was so loud and crowded, she turned on the captions while watching the documentary on her phone, reading the dialogue silently while sipping her coffee and occasionally nodding at interesting facts.
3 To write or provide a caption (Verb) — COMMON Common ▼
As a verb, caption means to add explanatory text to an image or video. Journalists caption their photographs before publication. Social media managers caption posts for brands. If someone asks you to caption a photo, they want you to write something descriptive or clever to go with it.
Vivid ExampleThe editor asked the intern to caption all thirty photographs from the event before the deadline, reminding her to include names, dates, and locations so readers would understand the context behind each image.
4 A heading or title (Formal/Older usage) — LESS COMMON Common ▼
In more formal or older texts, caption can refer to a heading at the top of a chapter, legal document, or article. This usage isn’t very common in everyday speech anymore, but you might encounter it in legal contexts or academic writing where caption refers to the title section of an official document.
Vivid ExampleThe lawyer reviewed the document carefully, noting that the caption at the top of the legal filing contained an error in the case number, which would need to be corrected before submission to avoid confusion in the court records.
Examples from the Street
“I posted the photo but I can’t think of a good caption.”
I uploaded the picture but I don’t know what text to write underneath it
“Turn on the captions — I can’t hear what they’re saying.”
Enable the subtitles so I can read the dialogue
“Her Instagram captions are always so funny.”
The text she writes with her photos is always hilarious
Common Patterns
write/add a caption → create text to go with a photo
a good/funny/clever caption → describing the quality of the text
Instagram/photo/image caption → text accompanying social media posts or pictures
the caption says/reads → introducing what the text states
caption ideas → suggestions for what to write with a photo
without a caption → a photo posted with no accompanying text
turn on/off the captions → enable or disable subtitles
closed captions (CC) → subtitles that can be switched on/off (includes sound descriptions)
auto-generated captions → subtitles created automatically by software
captions in [language] → subtitles in a specific language
watch with captions → view content with subtitles displayed
caption a photo/video → add text to an image or video
captioned [something] → described what a photo was labelled as
be captioned → have a caption added (passive)
Collocations
4 collocationsphoto caption
text describing what a picture shows
witty caption
a clever and funny description
add a caption
write text to accompany an image
closed captions
on-screen text showing dialogue for accessibility
Example Sentences
12 examples
1
I spent ten minutes trying to write a caption for my holiday photo
I wasted ten minutes attempting to come up with text for my vacation picture.
2
She always posts selfies with funny captions that make everyone laugh
She always uploads photos of herself with humorous text underneath that gets everyone giggling.
3
Can you turn on the captions? My English isn’t good enough to follow without them
Could you enable the subtitles? My language skills aren’t strong enough to understand without reading along.
4
YouTube’s auto-generated captions are terrible — they get half the words wrong
The subtitles that the video site creates automatically are awful — they misunderstand most of what’s being said.
5
I always watch Netflix with captions even though I’m a native speaker
I always view shows on the streaming service with subtitles displayed even though English is my first language.
6
The caption says “Best day ever!” but she looks miserable in the photo
The text underneath reads “Best day ever!” but she appears unhappy in the picture.
7
He posted the picture without a caption and let people guess what was happening
He uploaded the image with no text and allowed his followers to figure out the situation themselves.
8
I need some caption ideas for my graduation photos — everything I write sounds boring
I need suggestions for what to write with my university ceremony pictures — all my attempts sound dull.
9
She captioned the photo “Living my best life” while sitting on her couch eating crisps
She wrote “Living my best life” under the picture while actually relaxing at home snacking on chips.
10
The video was captioned in Spanish, which really helped me practise
The clip had subtitles in that language, which was great for my learning.
Learner Examples
★
I tell my students to watch films with English captions instead of subtitles in their native language — it helps them connect spoken and written English
I advise my learners to view movies with text in the target language rather than their mother tongue — it helps them link what they hear with what they read.
★
For homework, I asked students to find an interesting photo online and write a caption for it using the vocabulary we learned this week
As an assignment, I told the class to locate a compelling picture on the internet and create text to accompany it using the new words from our recent lesson.
Synonyms & Antonyms
4 items
Synonymstitle
a heading for an image
subtitle
text under a video
label
text identifying something
description
words explaining a picture