Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, relating to, or serving as an emblem; symbolic.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining to or constituting an emblem; using or dealing in emblems; symbolic.
  • Representative by some allusion or customary association; suggestive through similarity of qualities or conventional significance: as, a crown is emblematic of royalty; whiteness is emblematic of purity.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Pertaining to, containing, or consisting in, an emblem; symbolic; typically representative; representing as an emblem

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Serving as, or relating to a symbol, emblem or illustration of a type

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective being or serving as an illustration of a type
  • adjective serving as a visible symbol for something abstract

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French emblématique, from Medieval Latin emblēmaticus, of an emblem, from Latin emblēma, emblēmat-, emblem; see emblem.]

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Examples

  • On Sunday, a senior White House official pointed to a trade-off that he called emblematic of the administration's efforts: a restructuring of the Pell grant program, a key initiative of the Obama administration, to cover the maximum $5,550 benefit for a growing number of eligible college and vocational students.

    Obama budget projects record $1.6 trillion deficit Lori Montgomery 2011

  • On Sunday, a senior White House official pointed to a trade-off that he called emblematic of the administration's efforts: a restructuring of the Pell grant program, a key initiative of the Obama administration, to cover the maximum $5,550 benefit for a growing number of eligible college and vocational students.

    Obama budget projects record $1.6 trillion deficit Lori Montgomery 2011

  • On Sunday, a senior White House official pointed to a trade-off that he called emblematic of the administration's efforts: a restructuring of the Pell grant program, a key initiative of the Obama administration, to cover the maximum $5,550 benefit for a growing number of eligible college and vocational students.

    Obama budget projects record $1.6 trillion deficit Lori Montgomery 2011

  • These are referred to as emblematic gestures, and, like the words they represent, they're processed in the left hemisphere of the brain.

    Great Leaders Talk With Their Hands 2010

  • In fact in the speech announcing her selection, he called her emblematic of "the hopes and the values of working people."

    Ruth Hochberger: Press: Back Off Bristol Palin! 2008

  • "You now bear a name emblematic of timidity and inconstancy.

    Barnes New Testament Notes 1949

  • These are referred to as emblematic gestures, and, like the words they represent, they're processed in the left hemisphere of the brain.

    Great Leaders Talk With Their Hands 2010

  • She calls Turkey Creek's case "emblematic" of similar problems she's trying to help address nationwide.

    For them, Earth Day was late in coming 2010

  • But, Kirk, a lot of people were wondering if that's kind of emblematic of an effort to appeal to constituencies that perhaps are not as impressed with the president as the constituencies that are.

    Obama Takes His Message To Young Black Voters 2010

  • But, Kirk, a lot of people were wondering if that's kind of emblematic of an effort to appeal to constituencies that perhaps are not as impressed with the president as the constituencies that are.

    Obama Takes His Message To Young Black Voters 2010

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