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referential

[ ref-uh-ren-shuh l ]

/ ˌrɛf əˈrɛn ʃəl /

adjective

having reference: referential to something.

containing a reference.

used for reference.

Words nearby referential

reference mark, reference values, reference works, referendum, referent, referential, referral, referred pain, referred sensation, reffo, refill

Origin of referential

First recorded in 1650–60; referent + -ial

OTHER WORDS FROM referential

ref·er·en·tial·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for referential

Perhaps the word “hipster” has now lost all referential meaning.
Why Do We Hate Hipsters So F'ing Much?|Ted Gioia|July 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Chabon, though as referential as Pynchon, has never been one to code his allusions; he flies them proudly.
‘Telegraph Avenue’: Michael Chabon on His Obsessive Novel of Fandom|Josh Dzieza|September 11, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Radin noticed that some of the contemporary work was referential—harking back to Vermeer, say, or Raphael.
The Art App Boom|Spencer Bailey|August 27, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Paradoxically, the loss of the center also means that human beings lose their central role and referential value.
The Civilization of Illiteracy|Mihai Nadin

Compare a referential scenario, the first of the three which follow, with the other two.
Dramatic Technique|George Pierce Baker
The advent of writing changed politics because it attached written testimony to it, which became a referential element.
The Civilization of Illiteracy|Mihai Nadin
The written, as we know, almost constantly appeared together with other referential systems, especially images.
The Civilization of Illiteracy|Mihai Nadin
What is of peculiar interest is the symptom in his malady called "referential ideas."
Iconoclasts|James Huneker

The
2019 WORD
OF THE YEAR is...