as in references
a statement that refers to something without mentioning it directly
The lyrics contain biblical allusions.
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Recent Examples of allusions
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
And those songs trudge, Tom Waits-like, only to unwind, long and dense, full of allusions to history and Greek myth and film noir and pop culture and mentors and friends, plus death and apocalypse.
—Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 31 Mar. 2026
Van Beirendonck gravitates toward loud prints in bright colors and allusions to BDSM, whereas Van Saene makes elegant cocktail dresses for women with bow details and shrunken cardigans.
—Marisa Meltzer, Vanity Fair, 27 Mar. 2026
Plentiful other allusions suggest the wait may not be too painful; the long breadcrumb trail, sprinkled throughout 2025, gives the impression OR3 is just waiting to burst out of her.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 23 Mar. 2026
The prose is dotted with allusions to the works of Joseph Conrad, Jorge Luis Borges, and Bob Dylan, to name a few.
—Taran Dugal, New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2026
But there were, nonetheless, plenty of fringes, beaded embellishments and allusions to the jazz age on the red carpet at LA’s Shrine Auditorium.
—Oscar Holland, CNN Money, 1 Mar. 2026
Do the allusions and shout-outs to current events and personalities seem a little too close for comfort?
—Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2026
And posts with allusions to extremism have popped up on occasion in individual department or agency feeds, especially at DHS, which oversees both Customs and Border Protection and ICE.
—Ali Breland, The Atlantic, 21 Jan. 2026
Jed Perl, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
And those songs trudge, Tom Waits-like, only to unwind, long and dense, full of allusions to history and Greek myth and film noir and pop culture and mentors and friends, plus death and apocalypse.
—Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 31 Mar. 2026
Van Beirendonck gravitates toward loud prints in bright colors and allusions to BDSM, whereas Van Saene makes elegant cocktail dresses for women with bow details and shrunken cardigans.
—Marisa Meltzer, Vanity Fair, 27 Mar. 2026
Plentiful other allusions suggest the wait may not be too painful; the long breadcrumb trail, sprinkled throughout 2025, gives the impression OR3 is just waiting to burst out of her.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 23 Mar. 2026
The prose is dotted with allusions to the works of Joseph Conrad, Jorge Luis Borges, and Bob Dylan, to name a few.
—Taran Dugal, New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2026
But there were, nonetheless, plenty of fringes, beaded embellishments and allusions to the jazz age on the red carpet at LA’s Shrine Auditorium.
—Oscar Holland, CNN Money, 1 Mar. 2026
Do the allusions and shout-outs to current events and personalities seem a little too close for comfort?
—Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2026
And posts with allusions to extremism have popped up on occasion in individual department or agency feeds, especially at DHS, which oversees both Customs and Border Protection and ICE.
—Ali Breland, The Atlantic, 21 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for allusions
Noun
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Though not everyone will jump on board, aficionados of the panoply of Nightmare on Halloween the 13th knock-offs – and the diminishing returns that followed – will know the references and get the affectionate, tongue-in-cheek humor.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
12 May 2026
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The trailers lean hard into cinephile in-jokes, typically riffing on film history before colliding those references with the realities of running a defiantly non-mainstream festival.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
12 May 2026
Noun
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The game surely will have some late-season playoff implications as well, giving it top billing on a Chiefs schedule that features quite a few other doozies.—
Jesse Newell,
New York Times,
15 May 2026
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The Commission will assess the implications once/if more concrete information becomes available.—
Nick Vivarelli,
Variety,
15 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Allusions.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/allusions. Accessed 17 May. 2026.
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