refer to somebody as something
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Also seen as: refer to something as something
Meaning · English
Call somebody by a particular name or title
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
gọi một người bằng một tên hoặc chức vụ cụ thể
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: speak of someone with a certain designation
Register: neutral
Examples
They refer to him as the boss
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Everyday learner phrase (CEFR A2); level cross-referenced from published learner lists. Definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-01; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “refer to somebody as something” mean?
Call somebody by a particular name or title Literally: speak of someone with a certain designation
Is “refer to somebody as something” formal or informal?
refer to somebody as something is generally neutral.