standpoint
Americannoun
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standpoints
plural
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the point or place at which a person stands to view something.
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the mental position, attitude, etc., from which a person views and judges things.
From the lawyer's standpoint, her client is right.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of standpoint
Explanation
Your standpoint is the position, either physical or mental, from which you perceive things. From a practical standpoint, your parents might want you to study accounting—but you're determined to follow your dream of becoming a professional mime. You can also call your standpoint your "point of view." From the standpoint of your position across the room, you can just barely see your friends watching a televised soccer match and cheering on their favorite teams. From your standpoint as a basketball fan, you find soccer incredibly boring. It's the outlook you have on life or certain subjects that gives you this second kind of standpoint. The word comes directly from the German equivalent, Standpunkt.
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:
A White House official told ProPublica that Greenland is “critical from the standpoint of U.S. national security” and “we are very optimistic that we’re on a good trajectory” in the diplomatic talks.
From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2026
"There are ways and means, on the technical standpoint, to put this type of technology under control, but it's not sufficient," Patrice Caine said at Thales's UK tech conference in London.
From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026
From an investing standpoint, maintaining broad commodity exposure in a portfolio offers investors a way to hedge against further increases in food and energy prices, said Wells Fargo’s Mendez.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 13, 2026
The White House is persistently re-evaluating what it is willing to live with from a political standpoint.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
But from the standpoint of an observer moving with you—perhaps the scooter has a second seat—none of these effects occur.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
The constitutional court said back in 2001 that "as time passes, the relative importance of standpoints and positions of people in a totalitarian state certainly has not vanished, but it has definitely decreased".
From Barron's ● Feb. 20, 2026
"From medical and economic standpoints, therefore, it seems reasonable to give these patients a CSF analysis in the first instance unless there are specific medical reasons to indicate otherwise," says Brendel.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2024
Some ResumeBuilder etiquette survey respondents mentioned other topics of interest, including “what conversation isn’t acceptable,” that “discussion of political standpoints and/or religion is discouraged” and that every person should be treated “equally and fairly.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 16, 2024
Johnny C. Taylor Jr., president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, cites many benefits to work friends from all standpoints.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 7, 2023
From legal and political standpoints, what happened to Emmett Till was all but swept under the rug for almost fifty years.
From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry
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.
