Examples of referent in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But Venezuela is no longer a referent for majestic glaciers.
—
Andrea Vasquez Guillen, Washington Post, 1 July 2024
That song, with its Dickensian referent, sets up the central character’s hopes and dreams, but the show never again reaches those emotional heights, neither narratively or musically.
—Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 11 Apr. 2024
After the speech, the Indo-Pacific became a recurring referent in Japanese, Indian, and eventually Australian foreign policy circles.
—Van Jackson, Foreign Affairs, 12 Mar. 2021
Albini, drummer Todd Trainer, and bassist Bob Weston lock in together one last time—a wiry whirlwind of concision, all jokes and referents (including a wink to the late Mark E. Smith of the Fall) and honed dynamics on their leanest LP, at 28 minutes.
—Raymond Cummings, SPIN, 28 May 2024
And this isn't just the case for white people who are willing to stomach racist referents.
—Leah Donnella, NPR, 18 May 2024
The play, which is set around the turn of the 21st century, draws from the historical referent wherein the Sept. 11 hijackers all had been approved for visas at some point by consular officials who, in hindsight, clearly missed some things.
—Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 10 May 2024
There’s a sense of theater which the public lives off and needs to a certain extent, to have referents.
—Pablo Sandoval, Variety, 13 Dec. 2023
The question involves determining the referent of the pronoun or possessive adjective.
—IEEE Spectrum, 19 Jan. 2015
Andrea Vasquez Guillen, Washington Post, 1 July 2024
That song, with its Dickensian referent, sets up the central character’s hopes and dreams, but the show never again reaches those emotional heights, neither narratively or musically.
—Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 11 Apr. 2024
After the speech, the Indo-Pacific became a recurring referent in Japanese, Indian, and eventually Australian foreign policy circles.
—Van Jackson, Foreign Affairs, 12 Mar. 2021
Albini, drummer Todd Trainer, and bassist Bob Weston lock in together one last time—a wiry whirlwind of concision, all jokes and referents (including a wink to the late Mark E. Smith of the Fall) and honed dynamics on their leanest LP, at 28 minutes.
—Raymond Cummings, SPIN, 28 May 2024
And this isn't just the case for white people who are willing to stomach racist referents.
—Leah Donnella, NPR, 18 May 2024
The play, which is set around the turn of the 21st century, draws from the historical referent wherein the Sept. 11 hijackers all had been approved for visas at some point by consular officials who, in hindsight, clearly missed some things.
—Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 10 May 2024
There’s a sense of theater which the public lives off and needs to a certain extent, to have referents.
—Pablo Sandoval, Variety, 13 Dec. 2023
The question involves determining the referent of the pronoun or possessive adjective.
—IEEE Spectrum, 19 Jan. 2015
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'referent.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Referent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/referent. Accessed 14 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
referent
noun
ref·er·ent
ˈref-(ə-)rənt 
: something that refers or is referred to
especially
: the thing a word represents
referent
adjective
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