Signifier
noun
A symbol, sound, or image that represents or stands for a particular idea or thing.
In English language, the word 'love' is a signifier for a strong feeling of affection.
Often appears as...
- visual signifier
- cultural signifier
Usage tips
General,Academic
noun
In psychoanalysis and structuralism, a signifier is a word or a sign that gets its meaning because of its contrast with other words or signs.
In psychoanalytic theory, a child recognizing their reflection as themselves is an example of a signifier.
Often appears as...
- psychoanalytic signifier
- structural signifier
Usage tips
Formal
Academic
noun
In semiotics, it is the tangible form of the sign that carries a particular meaning.
In graphic design, a company's logo is a common signifier of its brand identity.
Often appears as...
- semiotic signifier
- iconic signifier
Usage tips
Formal
Academic
noun
A symbol, sound, or image that represents or stands for a particular idea or thing.
In English language, the word 'love' is a signifier for a strong feeling of affection.
Often appears as...
- visual signifier
- cultural signifier
Usage tips
General,Academic
noun
In psychoanalysis and structuralism, a signifier is a word or a sign that gets its meaning because of its contrast with other words or signs.
In psychoanalytic theory, a child recognizing their reflection as themselves is an example of a signifier.
Often appears as...
- psychoanalytic signifier
- structural signifier
Usage tips
Formal
Academic
noun
In semiotics, it is the tangible form of the sign that carries a particular meaning.
In graphic design, a company's logo is a common signifier of its brand identity.
Often appears as...
- semiotic signifier
- iconic signifier
Usage tips
Formal
Academic
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Context Matters
The meaning changes with context; what a signifier represents in art might differ from its use in conversation.
A cross is a signifier of Christianity, but in mathematics, it signifies multiplication.
Pro Tip 2/3Cultural Variance
A signifier can vary in meaning across cultures, be aware of these differences to avoid misunderstanding.
The signifier 'thumbs up' represents approval in many countries, but can be offensive in others.
Pro Tip 3/3Abstract Concepts
Signifiers can stand for ideas or feelings that are not physically present or visible.
The signifier 'heart' often represents love, even without a picture or drawing.
Compare with
emblemexpressionindicationmarkerrepresentationsignalsymbologytoken
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Video examples
Why Gender Equality Is...
And that, by the way, is why I think men so often wear ties. Because if you are going to embody disembodied Western rationality, you need a signifier, and what could be a better signifier of disembodied Western rationality
Video examples
Why Gender Equality Is...
And that, by the way, is why I think men so often wear ties. Because if you are going to embody disembodied Western rationality, you need a signifier, and what could be a better signifier of disembodied Western rationality
Example 1 of 1
Quote examples
Paul Di Filippo
American Writer
The SF genre, of course, is really an organically evolved, marketplace-determined, idiosyncratic grab bag of themes and signifiers and characters and icons and gadgets, some of which hew to the realistic parameters and paradigms embraced by science, others of which partake more of fantasy and magic.
Quote examples
Elvis Mitchell
American Critic
What makes 'Pootie Tang' the motion picture enjoyable is its no-brow ambitions; it's a joke action film. It slides through enough African-American pop culture signifiers to raise laughs out of those who will appreciate the references; it revels in more cheese per square inch than a soul food diner.
Quote examples
Ezra Furman
American Musician
I was a suburban kid who fancied myself somehow intellectual. I was into punk rock but I couldn't get into the subcultural signifiers of dyed hair, safety pins and torn denim. Being a punk seemed like a new set of rules that I wasn't interested in having to follow.
Quote examples
Roman Jakobson
Russian Scientist
The task is to investigate speech sounds in relation to the meanings with which they are invested, i.e., sounds viewed as signifiers, and above all to throw light on the structure of the relation between sounds and meaning.
Quote examples
Martha Plimpton
American Model
Cigarettes are an instant signifier in culture. It punctuates a joke, or puts that extra zing on a punch line. I like them as a prop. I think it can be really useful for character and texture and contrast and all of that.
Quote examples
Carrie Brownstein
American Musician
My father was a corporate lawyer. He went to work in a suit and tie. He had a secretary. He left the house before seven A.M. His professional life felt generic, like a backdrop, a signifier more than a life: office job.
Quote examples
Joy Reid
American Journalist
Votes for president have long been a kind of social signifier. People will proudly boast that they voted for JFK; while it's harder to find those eager to claim having supported Richard Nixon.
Quote examples
Katherine Dunn
American Novelist
The Iliad' includes some snappy sports reporting, and writers ever since have been probing athletes for signifiers, for metaphor amped by grit under pressure.
Quote examples
John Updike
American Novelist
For male and female alike, the bodies of the other sex are messages signaling what we must do, they are glowing signifiers of our own necessities.
Quote examples
Jacques Lacan
French Psychologist
For the signifier is a unit in its very uniqueness, being by nature symbol only of an absence.
Quote examples
Paul Di Filippo
American Writer
The SF genre, of course, is really an organically evolved, marketplace-determined, idiosyncratic grab bag of themes and signifiers and characters and icons and gadgets, some of which hew to the realistic parameters and paradigms embraced by science, others of which partake more of fantasy and magic.
Quote examples
Elvis Mitchell
American Critic
What makes 'Pootie Tang' the motion picture enjoyable is its no-brow ambitions; it's a joke action film. It slides through enough African-American pop culture signifiers to raise laughs out of those who will appreciate the references; it revels in more cheese per square inch than a soul food diner.
Quote examples
Ezra Furman
American Musician
I was a suburban kid who fancied myself somehow intellectual. I was into punk rock but I couldn't get into the subcultural signifiers of dyed hair, safety pins and torn denim. Being a punk seemed like a new set of rules that I wasn't interested in having to follow.
Quote examples
Roman Jakobson
Russian Scientist
The task is to investigate speech sounds in relation to the meanings with which they are invested, i.e., sounds viewed as signifiers, and above all to throw light on the structure of the relation between sounds and meaning.
Quote examples
Martha Plimpton
American Model
Cigarettes are an instant signifier in culture. It punctuates a joke, or puts that extra zing on a punch line. I like them as a prop. I think it can be really useful for character and texture and contrast and all of that.
Quote examples
Carrie Brownstein
American Musician
My father was a corporate lawyer. He went to work in a suit and tie. He had a secretary. He left the house before seven A.M. His professional life felt generic, like a backdrop, a signifier more than a life: office job.
Quote examples
Joy Reid
American Journalist
Votes for president have long been a kind of social signifier. People will proudly boast that they voted for JFK; while it's harder to find those eager to claim having supported Richard Nixon.
Quote examples
Katherine Dunn
American Novelist
The Iliad' includes some snappy sports reporting, and writers ever since have been probing athletes for signifiers, for metaphor amped by grit under pressure.
Quote examples
John Updike
American Novelist
For male and female alike, the bodies of the other sex are messages signaling what we must do, they are glowing signifiers of our own necessities.
Quote examples
Jacques Lacan
French Psychologist
For the signifier is a unit in its very uniqueness, being by nature symbol only of an absence.
Example 1 of 10
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