signifier

noun

sig·​ni·​fi·​er ˈsig-nə-ˌfī(-ə)r How to pronounce signifier (audio)
1
: one that signifies
2
: a symbol, sound, or image (such as a word) that represents an underlying concept or meaning compare signified

Examples of signifier in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Over the decades, certain coffee table books have become their own status symbols (including Architectural Digest at 100: A Century of Style), serving as signifiers of taste. Sydney Gore, Architectural Digest, 13 Dec. 2024 The spot incorporates stock footage and artificial intelligence to directly comment on how such campaigns and institutional messaging deploy superficial signifiers of progress and diversity (think land acknowledgments that feel more tacked-on than actually conducive of change). Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 25 Nov. 2024 This cinematic transubstantiation was a harbinger of the Trump-era culture wars, in which signs and signifiers escaped each other’s gravity and floated off into the ether. Nate Jones, Vulture, 20 Aug. 2024 As Cassie Doney wrote for Refinery29, the carabiner likely emerged as a lesbian signifier during World War II, when women were widely encouraged to enter the workforce to make up for the men who were off at war. James Factora, Them, 5 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for signifier 

Word History

First Known Use

1532, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of signifier was in 1532

Dictionary Entries Near signifier

Cite this Entry

“Signifier.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/signifier. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

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