pointed

1. 1
   adjective

   Having a sharp or barbed end that tapers to a fine tip; not dull.

   Fishermen once carved pointed hooks from bone, barbed so the catch could not slip free.

   The pointed tip of the needle slid easily through the rubber seal.

   Similarsharp, tapered, spiky, barbed

   Oppositeblunt, dull, rounded

2. 2
   adjective

   Directed in a critical or negative way at a particular person or topic.

   The senator's pointed remarks about the budget were aimed squarely at her rival.

   He gave a pointed glance at the clock when the meeting ran long.

   Similarbarbed, cutting, sharp, biting, meaningful

   Oppositeveiled, oblique, subtle

   Note

   The newspaper sense, and an old one. The New York Times wrote of a report "made the subject of pointed comment" in 1863, and it still wrote of "pointed criticism" in 2013. The word belongs with comment, criticism and remark, and its target can be given with for or at. In 1910 President Taft "had a pointed comment for" Roosevelt's new nationalism.

3. 3
   adjective

   Having direct relevance to the matter at hand; pertinent.

   The editor's pointed suggestions addressed precisely the gaps in the draft's argument.

   Reviewers found the study's conclusions pointed, bearing directly on the current policy debate.

   Similarpertinent, relevant, apposite, germane, apt

   Oppositeirrelevant, immaterial, extraneous

   Note

   Relevance aimed straight at the matter, which is why this meaning sits so close to the critical meaning. A pointed question may be pertinent or it may be barbed, and only context tells you which. If the remark bears on the argument, it is this sense. If it bears on a person, it is usually the other. When the distinction matters, pertinent or relevant removes the doubt.

4. 4
   verb

   Past tense and past participle of point.

   Witnesses pointed to the man in the gray jacket.

   Critics have pointed out several problems with the proposal.

   Note

   A regular past form with one spelling for two jobs: the simple past (she pointed at the map) and the participle (the flaw has been pointed out). The participle often comes with a particle, as in pointed out, pointed to or pointed at. When point means "to sharpen, to grind or file to an acute end," its participle has the same spelling as the sharp-tipped adjective, as in a stick that has been pointed.

5. 5
   adjectivein compounds

   Having a certain number of points, typically in combination with a numeral, as in five-pointed.

   The sheriff's badge was a five-pointed star of polished brass.

   The cathedral window held a twelve-pointed rose pattern in stained glass.

   Note

   A combining sense that rarely stands alone. It joins a numeral with a hyphen to describe shape, as in a five-pointed star or a twelve-pointed rose. The whole compound works as a single adjective before its noun. Nobody describes a star as merely "pointed" in this sense. Without its number, the word slides back toward the plain meaning of having a sharp tip.

6. 6
   adjective

   Of an animal's coat: having points, with darker coloring at the extremities such as the face, ears, legs, and tail.

   Siamese and Himalayan cats are classic pointed breeds, pale-bodied with dark extremities.

   The kitten was born pale but grew pointed, darkening at the mask, ears, legs, and tail.

7. 7
   adjective

   Having a named but otherwise arbitrary point, called the basepoint, that remains fixed and is tracked through all subsequent discussion and operations.

   Homotopy theory often works with pointed spaces, where every map must respect the basepoint.

   The proof treats the circle as pointed, fixing one basepoint before comparing loops.

   Similarbased

   Note

   A topologist's word for a space that carries one chosen point, the basepoint, everywhere it goes. The structure lies in the maps more than in the point. Morphisms between pointed spaces must be continuous and must send basepoint to basepoint. Together these spaces and maps form their own category, written Top_•. Homotopy constructions such as loops are defined relative to that fixed point.

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