: characterized by or containing allusion : making implied or indirect references
Both men employ a densely allusive prose, richly embedded with the fruit of their reading, and both use language as a tool by which to explore and define themselves.—
Michiko Kakutani
Michiko KakutaniOne way that Cuarón avoids solipsism is to keep his own most consequential experiences to the story's margins—his parents' split is portrayed obliquely, through allusive moments and eavesdropped conversations.—Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
allusively
adverb
He speaks so rapidly and so allusively that listening to a lecture by him is an exhausting as well as an enriching experience.
—Gertrude Himmelfarb
Gertrude Himmelfarb
allusiveness
noun
Ballet can't convey historical detail; its power is in allusiveness, in imagery, in suggesting states of mind and emotion that words cannot capture.
—Roslyn Sulcas
Roslyn Sulcas
Examples of allusive in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Every two-color page shows off some new and unexpected layout or brush technique — there are cutaways and maps and mythical creatures and beautiful, allusive drawings of tigers and flames.
—Sam Thielman, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025
The allusive, charged opening sequence alone would qualify as a devastating short film on the subject.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2025
As a former foreign correspondent, Fenton has had experiences similar to my own, but poetry provides a more allusive, emotional language than journalism.
—The Week Uk, theweek, 11 Oct. 2024
Image Image Hovsepian, who was born in Isfahan, Iran, and grew up in Toledo, Ohio, makes allusive, shadowy photographs and assemblages that are in the permanent collections of New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago.
—Max Berlinger Stefan Ruiz, New York Times, 18 Mar. 2024
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Sam Thielman, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025
The allusive, charged opening sequence alone would qualify as a devastating short film on the subject.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2025
As a former foreign correspondent, Fenton has had experiences similar to my own, but poetry provides a more allusive, emotional language than journalism.
—The Week Uk, theweek, 11 Oct. 2024
Image Image Hovsepian, who was born in Isfahan, Iran, and grew up in Toledo, Ohio, makes allusive, shadowy photographs and assemblages that are in the permanent collections of New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago.
—Max Berlinger Stefan Ruiz, New York Times, 18 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for allusive
Cite this Entry
“Allusive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/allusive. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
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