Word.ws English Dictionary

empty signifiers

empty signifiers is the plural of empty signifier.

Meaning of empty signifier

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

Questions about empty signifiers

What is empty signifiers the plural of?
Empty signifiers is the plural of empty signifier.

Words near empty signifiers in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: empty signifiers (page history and authors); 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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