allude

(ə-lūd')
intr.v., -lud·ed, -lud·ing, -ludes.
To make an indirect reference: The candidate alluded to the recent war by saying, "We've all made sacrifices."

[Latin allūdere, to play with : ad-, ad- + lūdere, to play (from lūdus, game).]

USAGE NOTE   Allude and allusion are often used where the more general terms refer and reference would be preferable. Allude and allusion normally apply to indirect references in which the source is not specifically identified: "Well, we'll always have Paris," he told the travel agent, in an allusion to Casablanca. Refer and reference, unless qualified, usually imply specific mention of a source: I will refer to Hamlet for my conclusion: As Polonius says, "Though this be madness, yet there is method in't." See Usage Notes at refer.

View more Literature & Language videos

1. To allude to someone or something is to mention them 'indirectly or covertly', i.e. without mentioning their name, unlike refer, which means to mention them directly, i.e. by name. So if you refer to Julius Caesar you name him, whereas if you allude to him you identify him without naming him, e.g. 'the Roman dictator assassinated in 44 bc'. In practice, allude is often used to mean 'refer' (e.g.

He had star quality, an element often alluded to in Arlene's circle of show-biz friends—Gore Vidal, 1978

She tabled a letter alluding to fraud that caused alarm amongst her fellow councillors—Australian English source, 2003 [Old English (up to 1150)C]).

2. Allusion and reference should follow the same principle, allusion involving indirect mention and reference involving direct mention by name, but again in practice the distinction blurs at the edges

(She came across allusions to her family in the papers—Vita Sackville-West, 1931

Midway in the questioning...he'd begun to notice the number of allusions to a particular November weekend—Truman Capote, 1966

There were hints and allusions about his troubles to his friends—D. Halberstam, 1979

She was...annoyed that he could make her feel so uncomfortable by his veiled allusion to last night—A. Murray, 1993.

3. Beware of confusion between allusion and illusion, which means 'a deception or misapprehension about the true state of affairs'.

Previous:	allowedly, allow, allot verb
Next:	ally, almanac, almost

IN BRIEF: To suggest or infer.

I wasn't trying to allude to anything.

Tutor's tip: To "allude" is to imply or refer to something in a vague way; to "elude" is to escape or evade; "elute" means to extract through absorption.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

For a list of words related to allude, see:

• Reasoning and Informing - allude: refer to indirectly

---

See words rhyming with "allude."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Allude.

Dansk (Danish)
v. intr. - hentyde, antyde

idioms:

• allude to    hentyde til, referere til

Nederlands (Dutch)
zinspelen (op), noemen

Français (French)
v. intr. - faire allusion, avoir trait à, se rapporter à

Deutsch (German)
v. - anspielen auf

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - υπαινίσσομαι, υπονοώ, αναφέρομαι έμμεσα

idioms:

• allude to    υπαινίσσομαι, εννοώ, υπονοώ

Italiano (Italian)
alludere

idioms:

• allude to    fare allusione a

Português (Portuguese)
v. - aludir, fazer referências

idioms:

• allude to    referir-se a

Русский (Russian)
ссылаться, упоминать

idioms:

• allude to    ссылаться на

Español (Spanish)
v. intr. - aludir, referirse, hacer alusión

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - hänsyfta, åsyfta

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
间接提到, 暗示, 影射

idioms:

• allude to    间接提到

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. intr. - 間接提到, 暗示, 影射

idioms:

• allude to    間接提到

한국어 (Korean)
v. intr. - 암시하다

idioms:

• allude to    넌지시 말하다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - ほのめかす, それとなく言う

idioms:

• allude to    ほのめかす遠まわしに言及する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يلمح يشير مداوره‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. intr. - ‮רמז, הזכיר‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.