prooftext

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noun

A decontextualized quotation from a document (often, but not always, a book of the Bible) to establish a proposition rhetorically through an appeal to authority.

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Meanings

nounprooftext (plural prooftexts)

plural prooftexts

  1. A decontextualized quotation from a document (often, but not always, a book of the Bible) to establish a proposition rhetorically through an appeal to authority.
verbprooftext (third-person singular simple present prooftexts, present participle prooftexting, simple past and past participle prooftexted)

present singular third person prooftexts · participle present prooftexting · participle past prooftexted · past prooftexted

  1. To use decontextualized quotations from a document (often, but not always, a book of the Bible) to establish a proposition rhetorically through an appeal to authority.

Origin

From proof + text.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

prooftext. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prooftext

MLA

“prooftext.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prooftext. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prooftext,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prooftext.

Source: prooftext on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.