referent

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It’s a potent reminder of the psychic resonance the show holds for someone who grew up with these referents.

From New York Times

The phrase may have sounded faintly ridiculous, but its referent, which included air so cold it made your eyeballs yelp, was dreadfully serious.

From New York Times

And they also describe the anxiety of reality blur, that "breaking point" where the observer loses a sense of moorings, bereft of real-world referents and precedents.

From Salon

We’re in that place on the human map too often avoided by American novelists: poverty, the subtle prison where society’s marginalized are immured, pick your particular referent.

From New York Times

Despite this confusion, I feel a love for this nephew that I have no prior referent, and scarce little vocabulary, for.

From The Guardian