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Synonyms

pointedly

American  
[poin-tid-lee] / ˈpɔɪn tɪd li /

adverb

  1. in a marked, emphasized, or particularly directed fashion.

    Many media outlets are reporting on the incident—but pointedly avoiding showing the images at the center of the story.

    When a conference was convened to discuss a policy of settling environmental battles through negotiation, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance pointedly was not invited.


Etymology

Origin of pointedly

pointed ( def. ) + -ly

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.

See Examples For:

She sought to portray them as sleazy and pointedly decided to lean into an argument of recent months about Englishness.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

Uber says most operators have come around to its safari offering, but it is pointedly advertising at Nairobi’s international airport, not on the side of its vehicles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

When the possessive and paranoid Frank Ford runs into Margaret as she’s scurrying to meet his wife, Alice, he pointedly remarks, “I think, if your husbands were dead, you two would marry.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

The morning after the address, “Fox & Friends,” the network’s flagship three-hour morning show that typically serves as a rallying ground for administration priorities, pointedly neglected to even cover the speech.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

Another student asked him pointedly, “How can you tell us we can be anything when they treat us like we’re nothing?”

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

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