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
"But that would be sad to me, to have lost the referent."
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2023
“We can use terms successfully not because we know much about the referent but because we’re linked to the referent by a great social chain of communication.”
From New York Times ● Sep. 21, 2022
You can tweak a reference all you like, but the referent will stay just the same.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 21, 2021
Multiculturalist politics had a real referent in post-colonialism and immigration.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
