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.
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
I mention driving difficulties only as a referent for the ways in which Haiti struggles.
From New York Times ● Dec. 4, 2017
The beaver was so neutered in the postwar years that its major referent became a 7-year-old boy.
From Slate ● Dec. 3, 2014
A reader of this intimidating passage can marvel at Butler’s ability to juggle abstract propositions about still more abstract propositions, with no real-world referent in sight.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
