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.
And if we cannot find a referent for the normal and the good, how can we possibly come back from our national neurosis?
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2024
You can tweak a reference all you like, but the referent will stay just the same.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 21, 2021
“It’s not the most typical referent for ‘sandwich,’” he mused.
From The Verge ● Apr. 9, 2020
In “Limonov,” Carrère once again reminds us of Dostoyevsky, his most constant cultural referent when in his Russian mode.
From New York Times ● Dec. 12, 2019
Toni Morrison’s isn’t functioning as a modifier, which shades the meaning of genius, but as a determiner, which pins down its referent, in the same way that an article like the or this would do.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
