allusive

Definition of allusivenext

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of allusive Yarvin tends to extreme digression, while Land speaks with the allusive compression of a guru. James Duesterberg, New Yorker, 18 Feb. 2026 David Bowie, charming in interviews, and leaning toward the abstract and allusive in his lyrics, was not given to weighing in on news events. Alexander Larman, Washington Post, 8 Jan. 2026 At times sparse and allusive, Moon’s poems use blank space and other stylistic considerations to convey a voice and thought that ranges from the contemplative to the surreal and absurd. Literary Hub, 10 Nov. 2025 The Lady From the Sea, one of Ibsen’s most mysterious and allusive plays, centers on the figure of Ellida, a lighthouse keeper’s daughter with a maritime obsession. Sarah Crompton, Vogue, 19 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for allusive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for allusive
Adjective
  • Participating brands align around a common fiber specification and supply chain, then provide indicative volumes that can be combined to meet minimum order quantities at the fiber and yarn levels.
    Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 28 Aug. 2026
  • There was no sign of the usual easy-going, affable nature that has been so indicative of Joe Root’s personality in his 14 years as an England cricketer.
    Paul Newman, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • Tycho Crater is visible in the lower region of the lunar disk close to the shadow, while bright ejecta rays of reflective material brighten the darker lunar seas, where lava solidified to form basaltic plains billions of years ago.
    Anthony Wood, Space.com, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Exhilarating, sublime, and unsettling, these installations—which often incorporate polka-dot balloons, pumpkins, LED lights, and soundtracks—immerse the viewer in infinite reflective surfaces, exploding even small spaces into an endless expanse.
    Livia Caligor, Architectural Digest, 27 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • Semantic bleaching is another linguistic process whereby the denotative content of a word is stripped away.
    Brandon Tensley, CNN, 10 July 2022
  • The paragon of such an attempt is something like Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror, a work that stands as a denotative record of the social media shift, yet still falls to the same difficulties that characterize other cultural criticism of this type.
    SPIN, SPIN, 8 Feb. 2022
Adjective
  • The page will surely contain clues—maybe the subject matter points to a particular shelf, or the author uses telltale turns of phrase—but sometimes a match can’t be found.
    Jason Liebowitz, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2026
  • The groups found that many of the users dubbed orcas often showed telltale signs of insider trading and identified 152 such accounts betting on military and geopolitical events.
    Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 21 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • In the 19th century, flamenco dancers began using the abanico as an expressive prop, as Cuban song and dance styles such as the guajira influenced the dance form.
    ABC News, ABC News, 1 Sep. 2026
  • The season’s biggest trends are comfortable, expressive, and accessible—which is where Amazon comes in.
    Julia Morlino, Travel + Leisure, 28 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • If physical gestures serve our relatives just fine, why did our own branch of the family tree gradually favor biological changes in our brains and anatomy that permitted our characteristic complexities in language and precision in speech?
    Mike McRae September 02, New Atlas, 3 Sep. 2026
  • And in relation to me and Baba—so much of that inability to express affection is characteristic of son-father relationships in Arab families and has so much to do with how both of us were taught what a man should behave like.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • The company’s Kisunla treatment received FDA approval in 2024 for certain patients with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease.
    Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 28 Aug. 2026
  • In a recent clinical validation study, 1,142 symptomatic adults were tested using PrecivityAD2.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 24 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • Nominal damages are a small symbolic sum of money awarded when a legal right is violated.
    Jack Harvel August 26, Kansas City Star, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Cadet will work with architect Rodney Leon, who is also of Haitian descent, and who will advise on the interpretive writing and symbolic elements of the statue and its lighting and siting.
    Adam Harrington, CBS News, 24 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Allusive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/allusive. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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