Word.ws English Dictionary

empty signifier

empty signifier noun: a signifier—that is, a linguistic sign, a label or slogan—with no fixed and delimited meaning, which can therefore be interpreted in many ways and represent a range of different beliefs and aspirations.

Noun

empty signifier (plural empty signifiers)

  1. A signifier—that is, a linguistic sign, a label or slogan—with no fixed and delimited meaning, which can therefore be interpreted in many ways and represent a range of different beliefs and aspirations.
    • In many ways, the goal of “Clear” seems to have functioned as a kind of empty signifier, an amorphous but supremely attractive goal that could represent almost anything to anyone: higher IQ for some, better personal relationships for others, career success for some, domestic bliss for others.2011, Hugh B. Urban, The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion, →ISBN, page 48

Synonyms of empty signifier

Forms of empty signifier

pluralempty signifiers

Origin of empty signifier

First attested in the 1970s, apparently originally a calque of French signifiant vide as used by Jacques Derrida among others (though not by Lacan as sometimes supposed; compare the Lacanian term master signifier). Subsequently popularised in the work of Ernesto Laclau in the 1990s.

Questions about empty signifier

What does empty signifier mean?
Empty signifier means a signifier—that is, a linguistic sign, a label or slogan—with no fixed and delimited meaning, which can therefore be interpreted in many ways and represent a range of different beliefs and aspirations.
What part of speech is empty signifier?
Empty signifier is a noun.
What is the plural of empty signifier?
The plural of empty signifier is empty signifiers.

Words near empty signifier in the dictionary

  1. empty sella syndrome
  2. empty set
  3. empty sets
  4. empty sheet
  5. empty sheets
  6. empty signifier
  7. empty signifiers
  8. empty space
  9. empty spaces
  10. empty stock working
  11. empty stock workings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: empty signifier (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.

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Cite this entry: “empty signifier.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/empty_signifier. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.