allusion

American  

[uh-loo-zhuhn] / əˈlu ʒən /

noun

1. a passing or casual reference; an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implication.

   The novel's title is an allusion to Shakespeare.

2. the act of alluding; the making of a casual or indirect reference to something.

   The Bible is a fertile source of allusion in art.

3. Obsolete. a metaphor or parable.

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allusion British  

/ əˈluːʒən /

noun

1. the act of alluding

2. a passing reference; oblique or obscure mention

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allusion Cultural  

1. An indirect reference to some piece of knowledge not actually mentioned. Allusions usually come from a body of information that the author presumes the reader will know. For example, an author who writes, “She was another Helen,” is alluding to the proverbial beauty of Helen of Troy.

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Other Word Forms

• preallusion noun

Etymology

Origin of allusion

First recorded in 1540–50; Late Latin allūsiōn- (stem of allūsiō ), equivalent to allūs(us), past participle of allūdere ( allude; al- + lūd- “play” + -tus past participle suffix) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

I saw a lot of allusions and references in your lyrics and videos to “trashy icons,” like Lindsay Lohan with the Chanel purse ankle monitor.

From Los Angeles Times

There are allusions to the tragedies that befell him: the loss of a young daughter to measles encephalitis and his son’s near-fatal accident.

From The Wall Street Journal

“A move away from the layered, the blobby, the clean — to something with more illusion of or allusion to an id.”

From Los Angeles Times

Speaking to the theatrical experience, Spielberg made a brief allusion to the flare-up around comments by Timothée Chalamet regarding the popularity of opera and ballet in relation to the movies.

From Los Angeles Times

Wildly digressive, buzzing with literary allusions and telling its story as a 20th-century Shakespearean tragedy, the book has some of the mad, restless energy of Sellers himself.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• quotation