Noun
the phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something
Source: WordNetFor the signifier is a unit in its very uniqueness, being by nature symbol only of an absence. Jacques Lacan
An engineering degree is also no longer a requisite to using technology, as seemingly anyone today can install a printer or upload a video. Similarly, another signifier of nerd status - knowing obscure facts about favorite subjects - has also lost its currency. Noam Cohen
I had one of those steel thermal mugs you carried everywhere with you as a kind of signifier of how busy, and therefore how important you were. James Howard Kunstler
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. Martha Plimpton
As my family story shows, Latinos have been a blessing for USA for many generations. The future of America depends in part on the success of the Latino community, and this opportunity is just one more signifier of that. Julian Castro
When I came out publicly, some photo editors had a field day searching for pictures of me with a limp wrist or some other stereotypical gay signifier - as though, after decades in the public eye, they'd suddenly come across a trove of shots where I looked like a Cher impersonator. James McGreevey