referent

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.

You can tweak a reference all you like, but the referent will stay just the same.

From Washington Post • Dec. 21, 2021

“It’s not the most typical referent for ‘sandwich,’” he mused.

From The Verge • Apr. 9, 2020

I mention driving difficulties only as a referent for the ways in which Haiti struggles.

From New York Times • Dec. 4, 2017

The beaver was so neutered in the postwar years that its major referent became a 7-year-old boy.

From Slate • Dec. 3, 2014

A reader of this intimidating passage can marvel at Butler’s ability to juggle abstract propositions about still more abstract propositions, with no real-world referent in sight.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker