Recent Examples on the Web

And that — the idea of winning, or finishing, or accomplishing — has become its own universal signifier. Devin, Longreads, "Out There: On Not Finishing," 9 Sep. 2020

Eventually, though, a signifier on the resumé will only take you so far. Manavi Kapur, Quartz India, "How to find a job in India when you’re LGBTQI+," 27 Aug. 2020

When these distinctions go unnamed, class becomes something of a floating signifier in mainstream political discourse. G'ra Asim, The New Republic, "The NBA Strike and the Limits of the Left’s Class-Centric Politics," 29 Aug. 2020

Often, a clue is a signifier with multiple significations: a band of Gypsies, a handkerchief, an adder. Aaron Gilbreath, Longreads, "The Early Years of Elif Batuman’s Interest in Russian Authors," 10 Aug. 2020

The warm wood and oval back in ivory upholstery are an instant signifier of good taste, and the florettes on the bottom of each leg provide that little extra oomph. CNN Underscored, "Your dining room gets its due with this special collection from The Home Depot," 10 Aug. 2020

For reasons too convoluted to explore here, wearing protective gear—which is overwhelmingly proven to prevent the spread of Covid-19—has been turned into a political signifier, or a measure of one’s masculinity. Matt Bean, Sunset Magazine, "I Spent Hours at an Airport and Discovered Just How Terrifying It Is to Fly Now," 18 June 2020

To that extent, Black Lives Matter exists as a floating signifier that can find a home in most European cities and beyond. Gary Younge, The New York Review of Books, "What Black America Means to Europe," 6 June 2020

That sort of thing is usually a signifier for pretentiousness or embarrassment. Marilynne Robinson, The New York Review of Books, "What Kind of Country Do We Want?," 27 May 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'signifier.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.