as in reference
a statement that refers to something without mentioning it directly
The lyrics contain biblical allusions.
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Recent Examples of allusion
Wheatley was born in West Africa before being kidnapped and enslaved, and wrote timeless, staggering lyrics of elegy and Biblical allusion while enduring the bondage of slavery.
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Time, 12 May 2026
The clear allusion to Dubya set up his very big and important high-school vice-principal-ass pronouncement about a full embargo on goods being shipped to Mars.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 1 May 2026
The indictment makes no allusion to evidence beyond the photograph.
—Niall Stanage, The Hill, 30 Apr. 2026
Meis moves from the Baroque virtuosity of Rubens’s study of a drunken mythological figure, through the jagged modernist puzzle of Marc’s allegorical animals, to Mitchell’s painterly abstractions and their flickering landscape allusions.
—Jed Perl, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for allusion
Time, 12 May 2026
The clear allusion to Dubya set up his very big and important high-school vice-principal-ass pronouncement about a full embargo on goods being shipped to Mars.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 1 May 2026
The indictment makes no allusion to evidence beyond the photograph.
—Niall Stanage, The Hill, 30 Apr. 2026
Meis moves from the Baroque virtuosity of Rubens’s study of a drunken mythological figure, through the jagged modernist puzzle of Marc’s allegorical animals, to Mitchell’s painterly abstractions and their flickering landscape allusions.
—Jed Perl, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for allusion
Recent Examples of Synonyms for allusion
Noun
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What’s really nice about that is being able, over the whole course of the series, to build toward that with references.—
Joy Press,
Vanity Fair,
29 May 2026
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Baxfendy and Veppanu aren’t yet available in other wealthy countries that are used as comparisons for reference pricing.—
John Wilkerson,
STAT,
28 May 2026
Noun
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Whether the rant has any immediate political implications for the lawmakers, especially in a midterm election year, remains to be seen.—
Zachary Schermele,
USA Today,
5 June 2026
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The implications from Brittany and Michelle that Danny is like their exes seems as big a reach as Danny trying to touch the rim of a basketball hoop.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
4 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Allusion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/allusion. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
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