allusion
noun/əˈluːʒn/
/əˈluːʒn/
[countable, uncountable] (formal)- allusion (to somebody/something) something that is said or written that refers to or mentions another person or subject in an indirect way (= alludes to it)
- His statement was seen as an allusion to the latest political scandal.
- Her poetry is full of obscure literary allusion.
- He made a thinly veiled allusion to his opponent's recent defeat.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- clear
- direct
- frequent
- …
- contain
- include
- make
- …
- allusion to
Word Originmid 16th cent. (denoting a pun, metaphor, or parable): from French, or from late Latin allusio(n-), from the verb alludere, from ad- ‘towards’ + ludere ‘to play’.Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
Check pronunciation:
allusion