empty signifier

[ emp-tee sig-nuh-fahy-er ]

noun

, Semiotics.

1. a word or phrase used in such a way that it does not have a fixed, specific meaning, allowing it to refer to different, often contradictory things depending on who is using it and in what context:

   The term “freedom” can be an empty signifier in politics, with different groups using it as justification for opposing goals.

Word History and Origins

Origin of empty signifier¹

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

These “vibes” lead to lots of sloppy thinking and writing; In many ways these “vibes” are an empty signifier that can mean whatever a given person wants them to.

From Salon

In his role as a type of symbol and empty signifier upon which many different types of meanings can be assigned, Trump is an aspiring dictator modeled on some bastardized combination of Hitler and Putin and other criminal dictators.

From Salon

A Republican loves an empty signifier.

From Salon

That ambiguous term has become a highly effective weapon in their war on democracy, reality, truth and freedom: It is a blank slate or empty signifier to which almost any meaning can be attached, easily used to prey on the fear, paranoia and other negative emotions widely found across White America.

From Salon

Instead, CRT functions for the right today primarily as an empty signifier for any talk of race and racism at all, a catch-all specter lumping together "multiculturalism," "wokeism," "anti-racism," and "identity politics" — or indeed any suggestion that racial inequities in the United States are anything but fair outcomes, the result of choices made by equally positioned individuals in a free society.

From Salon