allusion

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.

“A move away from the layered, the blobby, the clean — to something with more illusion of or allusion to an id.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 16, 2026

One of the pleasures here is witnessing both actors reanimate the rhythms of a long-ago conversation, their text absent the typical tidiness of a screenplay and instead an interwoven network of inflection, attitude, allusion.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025

"A 10-year-old child who doesn't understand a joke or an allusion, it's not a big deal. They will understand it at 15, 20, or 40 years old. There are several levels of interpretation."

From Barron's • Oct. 23, 2025

The allusion to economic justifications for the Confederacy’s inhumane cruelty is mocked and transformed, while also implying the process as Black reparation.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 22, 2025

Not only ancient history—the mythical age of the brothers’ feud—but my own history one second ago, has vanished utterly, dropped out of existence. in Time. is an allusion of language.

From "Grendel" by John Gardner