as in reference
a statement that refers to something without mentioning it directly
The lyrics contain biblical allusions.
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Recent Examples of allusion
With his ample, erroneous allusions to scholarship and appeals to authority, Kennedy has perfected the art of the Gish Gallop: a debate strategy in which the speaker simply overwhelms the listener with information, not all of it true.
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Benjamin Mazer, The Atlantic, 27 Jan. 2025
Now McCrae follows the journey of a poet and his guide through Hell’s landscape, in a clear allusion to Dante and his Inferno.
—Elisa Gonzalez, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2025
Yet for anyone who’s been paying attention to Ferreira’s career over the past decade, there are a few ways to interpret the song’s allusions to feeling trapped—and finally breaking free.
—Keaton Bell, Vogue, 2 Dec. 2024
Its very name, the flight number for Air France’s iconic Concorde flights between New York and Paris in the 1970s, is an allusion to the carrier’s rich history.
—Stacia Datskovska, WWD, 15 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for allusion
Benjamin Mazer, The Atlantic, 27 Jan. 2025
Now McCrae follows the journey of a poet and his guide through Hell’s landscape, in a clear allusion to Dante and his Inferno.
—Elisa Gonzalez, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2025
Yet for anyone who’s been paying attention to Ferreira’s career over the past decade, there are a few ways to interpret the song’s allusions to feeling trapped—and finally breaking free.
—Keaton Bell, Vogue, 2 Dec. 2024
Its very name, the flight number for Air France’s iconic Concorde flights between New York and Paris in the 1970s, is an allusion to the carrier’s rich history.
—Stacia Datskovska, WWD, 15 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for allusion
Cite this Entry
“Allusion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/allusion. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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