standpoint
Americannoun
-
the point or place at which a person stands to view something.
-
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.
But even from a business-minded standpoint, by any hard-minded accounting of costs and time and reach and relevance and adaptability and return on investment, 60 Minutes was working.
From Slate • Jun. 5, 2026
From a tactical standpoint, the fort is unlikely to deter Hezbollah’s new crop of attack drones, which rely on fiber-optic cables and are impervious to jamming.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2026
“From a portfolio-construction standpoint, many investment advisers — myself included — balk at this level of concentration in a fund,” he says.
From MarketWatch • May 27, 2026
But Wall Street analysts are coming at it from a different standpoint.
From Barron's • May 26, 2026
From a teenager’s standpoint, though, this was understandably a complete and total drag.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
