allusive
UK/əˈluː.sɪv//əˈluː.sɪv/
allusive adjective: that contains or makes use of allusions (indirect references or hints).
Adjective
allusive (comparative more allusive, superlative most allusive)
- that contains or makes use of allusions (indirect references or hints)
- English poetry is compelled by the stubbornness of the language continually to renounce the too obviously poetic: but in seeking to be more precise, more dense and more allusive, Russian poetry has never had to give up the straightforward traditional intoxications of sound and rhyme.1984, John Bayley, Two pieces on translating Mandelstam: Selected Essays, page 149
- The footnotes ensure that the lines become more allusive and more polysemantic, vacillating between transubstantiation and ghostly intimations.2010, James Matthews, “Late Modernism and the Marketplace”, in Edwina Keown, Carol Taaffe, editors, Irish Modernism, page 172
- Synonyms:
- suggestive
Synonyms of allusive
Forms of allusive
| comparative | more allusive |
|---|---|
| superlative | most allusive |
Origin of allusive
From Latin allūs-, past participle stem of allūdere (“to joke, jest”; see allude) + -ive. See also al-.
Words formed from allusive
Questions about allusive
- What does allusive mean?
- Allusive means that contains or makes use of allusions (indirect references or hints).
- What part of speech is allusive?
- Allusive is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce allusive?
- Allusive is pronounced /əˈluː.sɪv/ (UK).
Words near allusive in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: allusive (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-allusive.oga.
Cite this entry: “allusive.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/allusive. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.