signify
Stand for something
Signify means to indicate, represent, or convey meaning.
A red light signifies stop.
A nod signifies agreement.
Signs and symbols signify by pointing to something beyond themselves: What does this gesture signify?
The word can also mean to matter or be important: It doesn't signify what others think.
In African American culture, to signify is to engage in verbal play involving indirect insults, boasts, or wordplay—a ritualized form of wit.
Represent in meaning
- suggestOffer an idea indirectly
- implyIndicate without stating
- hintIndirect suggestion
- alludeRefer indirectly
refer · mention · intimate · connote · betoken · mark · specify · identify
Represent through signs
- embodyExpress through physical form
- stand forMean or tolerate
- epitomizeRepresent the essence of
- typifyEmbody characteristic traits
personify · exemplify · manifest · express · convey · emblem · icon · token
State or fast train
- conveyCommunicate or transport
- declareState officially
- announceState something officially
- proclaimDeclare officially and openly
state · assert · articulate · voice · transmit · relay · disclose · reveal
denote
Represent in meaning
allude · refer · mention · intimate · connote · betoken · mark · specify · identify · flag
symbolize
Represent through signs
typify · personify · exemplify · manifest · express · convey · emblem · icon · token · allegory
express
State or fast train
proclaim · state · assert · articulate · voice · transmit · relay · disclose · reveal · make known
foreshadow
Indicate future events
augur · harbinger · prophesy · forebode · premonition · warning · forewarn · bode · herald · predict
count
Reckon a total
- importanceState of mattering
- weightMeasure of heaviness
- consequenceResult of an action
relevance · substance · moment · gravity · import · meaning · value · worth · note · merit
- expressionexpress, convey, communicate, verbal, nonverbal
- representrepresent, stand for, symbolize, embody, personify
- OpenBSDkernel, cwm, unveil, unwind, rad
- communicateexpress, convey, communicate, tell, share
- organizecategorize, classify, sort, arrange, group
- showingshow, displaying, display, exhibiting, demonstrate
signifyobscure
Unknown to most
say nothing · conceal · hide · obfuscate · meaningless
- significant otherRomantic life partner
- statistically significantUnlikely by chance alone
- cultural significanceMeaning within a community
- historical significanceWhy past events matter
- significant digitsNumerals showing measurement precision
- significant figurePrecision-conveying numeral in measurement
significance, significant, insignia, insignificant, significantly, assigning, insignificance, signifying, signifies