How to Use allusion in a Sentence

allusion

noun

• She made allusion to her first marriage.
• The lyrics contain biblical allusions.
• Part of this has to do with the charming exoticism of her old-time world with its winking artifice and cinematic allusions.
  — Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2017
• There are other allusions to different books by Margaret Wise Brown, too.
  — Joe Fassler, The Atlantic, 27 Sep. 2017
• At moments of joy, grief, love, laughter, intimacy, or pain, his instinct is to reach reflexively for a grand cultural allusion.
  — Nina Martyris, Slate Magazine, 21 Sep. 2017
• Several of the artworks stand out for their sheer uniqueness in size, scope, and thematic allusions to the singular landscape of Fort Worth.
  — By Andrew Marton, star-telegram, 4 Oct. 2017
• The flow of everyday life becomes monumental in this context, and the political allusions assume a greater resonance as well.
  — Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader, 18 Sep. 2017
• After scoring, Hill celebrated by putting his arms behind his back with his wrists together – perhaps an allusion to being in handcuffs earlier in the day.
  — Kevin Dotson, CNN, 8 Sep. 2024
• That was a none-too-subtle allusion to the U.S. men’s team’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
  — Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com, 16 Oct. 2017
• The book is filled with humor, canny allusion, beauty, and a profundity born of glimpsing fleeting human lives from the outside—through eyes that have seen epochs yet nonetheless remain befuddled.
  — The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024
• The Dune allusions are based on the sheer amount of dust and sweat resting atop her skin.
  — Vulture, 31 Jan. 2024
• The song starts off strong with an allusion to the king of pop, Michael Jackson.
  — Samantha Olson, Seventeen, 21 May 2021
• But that's not the only allusion to Miley’s past in the video.
  — Sara Delgado, Teen Vogue, 30 Nov. 2018
• The name, as legend has it, was an allusion to the club cars of Pullman trains.
  — Liza Weisstuch, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Oct. 2020
• The title was an allusion to the biblical tale of Adam and Eve and the tree of knowledge.
  — Timothy McLaughlin, The Atlantic, 6 Jan. 2023
• As the disease spread across the globe, the battle allusions followed.
  — Yasmeen Serhan, The Atlantic, 31 Mar. 2020
• Grail’s name is an allusion to this search, which researchers have compared to the quest for the Holy Grail.
  — Mike Freeman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Apr. 2021
• Grail’s name is an allusion to that search, which many researchers compare to the quest for the Holy Grail.
  — Jonathan Wosen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Sep. 2020
• The company’s name is an allusion to that search, which many have compared to the quest for the Holy Grail.
  — San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Apr. 2021
• This was of course an allusion to Hudson’s Nascar success in the 1950s.
  — A.j. Baime, WSJ, 13 Nov. 2018
• But one of the best allusions is to the music from the Mario Kart 8 menu, which plays while Mario and the gang are selecting their karts.
  — Brendan Morrow, The Week, 7 Apr. 2023
• And there is an allusion to what’s coming: snowflakes at book’s end.
  — Susan Faust, San Francisco Chronicle, 27 Oct. 2017
• At times, these rolling tales feel like a sly homage to Ovid or Virgil (not least because of the many allusions to Greek gods).
  — Sebastian Smee, chicagotribune.com, 30 May 2018
• There’s an allusion, both in this book’s title and in the stories themselves, to Andy Warhol’s screen tests.
  — Tobias Carroll, Longreads, 25 July 2019
• But beyond the allusion to chaos, the beer itself seems pretty great.
  — Sammy Nickalls, Esquire, 4 Feb. 2017
• In addition to the passionate embrace, there is a subtler allusion there, too: the man’s large hand melds with the arm of the boy.
  — New York Times, 13 Jan. 2021
• But the speaker of the House, Lindsay Hoyle, made a wry allusion to more turbulent times.
  — Mark Landler, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Sep. 2022
• In part this is a function of Sebald’s use of allusion and collage.
  — Ben Lerner, The New York Review of Books, 25 Feb. 2021
• Friends often sent Winslet cards with that very photograph, a winky allusion to her own body.
  — Esther Zuckerman, TIME, 12 Sep. 2024
• Multiple speakers have made divine allusions to explain Trump's survival over the weekend.
  — David Jackson, USA TODAY, 18 July 2024

Last Updated: 10 Nov 2024