allusion
21
6.8
- noun
- /əˈluːʒən/
:
alusión
- Her speech included an allusion to historical events that shaped our nation.
- literary allusion
- Biblical allusion
- mythological allusions
We only have fragments and allusions to them.
- We only have fragments and allusions to them.
- And, and so so in the film then we also get an allusion to and a representation of silent movies.
- And so if you, the expression you drank the kool-aid is an allusion to Jonestown and the idea that you're brainwashed, that you're not thinking clearly.
- Clinton make just a very brief allusion to the prime.
- Stevens doesn't quite do that, but he does put her behind a window, and he strips her of elusive allusions to the classical world.
Examples
-
In conversation, she salted her speech with allusions to movies and actors no one had ever heard of before.
Fiction book (1999) -
The writing is a lively juxtaposition of literary allusions and eyewitness accounts.
Academic text (1990) -
My husband made the allusion to a few good men and he said we need him on that wall.
-
Line seven contains the first allusion to time, clocks, and years as a measure of one's age.
Fiction book (1996) -
Clinton make just a very brief allusion to the prime.
-
There seems to be some allusion here that escapes me.
-
I'm afraid the allusion escapes me.
-
His own poems are thick with allusions, especially of the classical sort.
Academic text (2011) -
Thus, the narratives are rich in allusions to a host of otherwise obscure places.
Academic text (1991) -
Here, the metrical trope of headlessness coincides with the primary allusion of the poem, the story of Philomela.
Academic text (2017)
Synonyms
329
3.2
Mention of a source that shows where information comes from
How Direct
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Allusion comes from the Latin parts ad- ('to') and ludere ('to play'), so it originally meant 'to play with' or 'play toward' something. That's why an allusion is a small, playful hint that points to something without naming it, and you can see the same ludere root in the word illusion.