According to one embodiment, a document proofing support apparatus includes an input unit, an analysis unit, a detection unit, a database unit, a retrieval unit, and a display unit. The input unit is configured to receive input of one of at least one proof document and at least one entry document. The analysis unit is configured to perform a morphological, a syntactic and a dependency analysis and generate analysis information including a dependency relation. The detection unit is configured to detect as a possible coined word character string a compound word having a nominal continuation relation. The database unit is configured to store syntactic information. The retrieval unit is configured to retrieve a dependency-relation sentence, and to determine the possible coined word character string as a coined word if the dependency-relation sentence exists. The display unit is configured to display a message including the coined word.