allude

American  

[uh-lood] / əˈlud /

verb (used without object)

• alludes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• alluded,
  past participle,  past
• alluding
  present participle

1. to refer casually or indirectly; make an allusion (usually followed byto ).

   He often alluded to his poverty.

2. to contain a casual or indirect reference (usually followed byto ).

   The letter alludes to something now forgotten.

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allude British  

/ əˈluːd /

verb

1. to refer indirectly, briefly, or implicitly

2. (loosely) to mention

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Commonly Confused

See elude

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• preallude
  verb (used without object)

Inflected Forms

Participles

• alluding
  present
• alluded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• allude
  simple
• alludes
  simple
• have alluded
  perfect
• has alluded
  perfect
• am alluding
  progressive
• are alluding
  progressive
• is alluding
  progressive
• have been alluding
  perfect progressive
• has been alluding
  perfect progressive

Past

• alluded
  simple
• had alluded
  perfect
• was alluding
  progressive
• were alluding
  progressive
• had been alluding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will allude
  simple
• will have alluded
  perfect
• will be alluding
  progressive
• will have been alluding
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of allude

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin allūdere “to play beside, make a playful allusion to,” equivalent to al- al- + lūdere “to play”

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Explanation

When you allude to something, you don't identify it or mention it specifically. If you allude to the fact that a cop is sitting right behind you, your friends might stop talking about their plans to rob a bank. Allude is from Latin allūdere "to play with, joke" from the prefix ad- "toward" plus lūdere "to play." The corresponding noun is allusion, which is often used of an indirect reference in literature: Helen, a fitting name for a woman of great beauty, is an allusion to Helen of Troy.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

allude alludes alluded alluding

The statement appears to allude to a number of high-profile dossiers handled by Khan.

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

To allude to Frank Sinatra, you did it your way.

From MarketWatch ● May 13, 2026

In a statement Tuesday that didn’t allude to the suspended deliveries, the Central Bank of Iraq said it wasn’t short of U.S. currency.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026

The show is, in fact, billed as being only "mostly" based on real events, and the writer and cast allude to a "twist".

From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026

To allude is to mention indirectly or to hint at—to speak of something in a covert or roundabout way.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

Iñárritu portrays the average person as a seal, ready to bark and clap at anything that so much as alludes to reality.

From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026

On TikTok and Instagram, a person's "aura" alludes to their style or attitude, with "100% aura" high praise for the most effortlessly cool persona.

From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026

But independent investment research provider Variant Perception alludes to a looming shift in market psyche as they reckon “the next couple of days will mark ‘peak uncertainty’ about the Iran war.”

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 20, 2026

In other words, the statement alludes to something having happened, but doesn’t identify who did it or even what it was.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2026

Catullus tells several of the stories, and Horace alludes to them often, but neither is important for mythology.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

It’s their rapport that explains how the work gets done in the pressure cooker Johnson alluded to.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

They’re helped out by credulous writers who’ve alluded to vague, anonymized conversations with people in the Bay Area about the same 10 percent probability of imminent extinction for a while now.

From Slate ● Sep. 15, 2026

Kimmel alluded to the Walt Disney Co. network’s ongoing dispute with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr as the reason for the switch.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

The IMF pointed to the unsettled nature of the Mideast conflict and also alluded to a possible backlash against artificial intelligence that damages stock markets.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026

Cyril suspected that the discussion of bad taste alluded to his loud pants.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

Talking to reporters Monday at the White House, Trump, alluding to an Asian trip next month to attend a regional economic conference, again floated the prospect of a get-together with Kim.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

The documents contained upsetting information alluding to the reason she was taken into care, alongside court records and a personal letter from her social worker.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Metaphorically alluding to the satirical newspaper “The Onion,” the narrator says that to pull off this operation, the team had to stick together like layers of an onion: “Never forget, onion is strength.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

"There's a limit to what companies can absorb," Rainey told CNBC, alluding to the $2 billion impact.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

I tried to push out what she was alluding to.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

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