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point of view

American  
[point uhv vyoo] / ˈpɔɪnt əv ˈvyu /

noun

  1. a specified or stated manner of consideration or appraisal; standpoint: POV

    from the point of view of a doctor.

  2. an opinion, attitude, or judgment: POV

    He refuses to change his point of view in the matter.

  3. the position of the narrator in relation to the story, as indicated by the narrator's outlook from which the events are depicted and by the attitude toward the characters. POV

  4. Movies. a method of shooting a scene or film that expresses the attitude of the director or writer toward the material or of a character in a scene. POV

point of view British  

noun

  1. a position from which someone or something is observed

  2. a mental viewpoint or attitude

  3. the mental position from which a story is observed or narrated

    the omniscient point of view
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
point of view Idioms  

  1. An attitude or standpoint, how one sees or thinks of something. For example, From the manufacturer's point of view, the critical issue is cost. This expression, originally alluding to one's vantage point in seeing a building or painting or other object, dates from the early 1700s.

Etymology

Origin of point of view

First recorded in 1720–30

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"Point of view is often represented by the camera itself," he says.

From BBC • May 15, 2025

Ross: Point of view is, I think, the origin of that camera use.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2025

Point of view: the perspective from which a narrative is told.

From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021

Point of view: Also called perspective, point of view encompasses what an image includes, what it excludes, and where its focus lies.

From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021

Point of view, in paragraph, 150; in sentence, 123; in whole composition, 178.

From Practical Grammar and Composition by Wood, Thomas

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.