polestar
Americannoun
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something that serves as a guiding principle.
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something that is the center of attention or attraction.
Etymology
Origin of polestar
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.
Intent has been the polestar for the evolution of secondary liability—and especially the contributory liability theory—in copyright law.
From Slate ● Nov. 28, 2025
They’re a polestar, to some degree, for bands like ours.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2021
“If we can’t have a conversation with the past, what will be our future?” asks the play’s polestar, one pure-hearted Eric Glass, portrayed by moony-eyed Kyle Soller as sincerity incarnate.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 17, 2019
For in Martin’s vast creation, sprawling in both space and time, there is an ever-present drive, an orienting polestar: Who will emerge victorious and sit on the namesake Iron Throne?
From New York Times ● Oct. 15, 2018
The polestar rose above their heads with visible rapidity; for indeed they moved quite as fast as the sad thoughts, though not with all the speed of happy desires.
From Adela Cathcart, Volume 2 by George MacDonald
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.
