Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of referential
Explanation
Anything that alludes or refers to something else is referential. Many hip-hop songs are referential, using samples of other songs, mentioning them, or quoting them. Your experimental poetry is referential, if it points directly or more subtly to sources and influences like Shakespeare and Britney Spears and Dr. Seuss. An architect might describe her modern designs as referential too, if they allude to older building styles, using Gothic arches and flat, Art Deco roofs. In general, the adjective referential is a fancy way to talk about the references, mentions, and allusions someone (usually an artist) makes to other things.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But that is the great joy of Anderson’s “Resident Evil” films: They are so remarkably stylized, so absurdly over-the-top, so referential and deferent to Anderson’s own inspirations, that they’ve become singular visions.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
Once the princess of glitchy hyperpop, Slayyyter spent nearly a decade steadily refining her sound into something entirely her own, culminating in a sonic landscape that’s studied and referential while indisputably fresh.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026
I now live on the side of L.A. where the styling of luxury items is either ironic or referential.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2024
The feverish “Tortured Poets Department” is a full-throated return to her specialty: autobiographical and sometimes spiteful tales of heartbreak, full of detailed, referential lyrics that her fans will delight in decoding.
From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2024
Compare a referential scenario, the first of the three which follow, with the other two.
From Dramatic Technique by George Pierce Baker
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
