pointillism

American  

[pwan-tl-iz-uhm, -tee-iz-, poin-tl-iz-] / ˈpwæn tlˌɪz əm, -tiˌɪz-, ˈpɔɪn tlˌɪz- /

noun

(sometimes initial capital letter)

1. a theory and technique developed by the neo-impressionists, based on the principle that juxtaposed dots of pure color, as blue and yellow, are optically mixed into the resulting hue, as green, by the viewer.

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pointillism British  

/ -tiːˌɪzəm, ˈpwæntɪˌlɪzəm, ˈpɔɪn- /

noun

1. Also called: divisionism.  the technique of painting elaborated from impressionism, in which dots of unmixed colour are juxtaposed on a white ground so that from a distance they fuse in the viewer's eye into appropriate intermediate tones

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Other Word Forms

• pointillist noun

Etymology

Origin of pointillism

1900–05; < French pointillisme, equivalent to pointill ( er ) to mark with points + -isme -ism

Example Sentences

The fact that it was a parlor game, not pointillism, that inspired the lyric is proof of Sondheim’s credo that “playful doesn’t mean trivial any more than solemn means serious.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

The paintings, done in a pointillism style, shimmered with the high-contrast pop of a flash photo or an instant Polaroid.

From Washington Post • Dec. 23, 2022

In “Colors of Summer,” Stream captures the avian residents of our region with pointillism and symbolism, drawing on his Sun’Aq Aleut ancestry.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 16, 2021

This approach amounts to a sort of historical pointillism, bringing the manic, skittering mood of the era into focus.

From New York Times • Jul. 14, 2020

“Ah! Seurat! Prophetic pointillism a century before the pixel!”

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman