as in compass
a guiding or motivating purpose or principle
under the polestar of progress, urban renewal programs gutted the historic districts of many cities
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Recent Examples of polestar
Bob Whitman was a polestar in the great era before that.
—
Brian Domitrovic, Forbes.com, 19 July 2025
While his Late Night forerunner Letterman was probably the comedic polestar of Generation X—gruff, cynical, and biting the hand that fed—O’Brien became a bedrock influence for the next generation of Millennial comics.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 22 Mar. 2025
Maison Proust, Paris (Image credit: Maison Proust) Opulence is the polestar at Maison Proust.
—Catherine Garcia, theweek, 7 Nov. 2024
Durazzi had horses freely roaming the garden; inside the gallery, models were standing on a felt-padded plinth, while images of women who are the designer’s polestars—artists, scientists, and intellectuals from Phoebe Boswell to Carla Cerati to Ottessa Moshfegh—were projected on their faces.
—Tiziana Cardini, Vogue, 15 Mar. 2023
As Twitter appears to go down in flames, with nothing on the horizon to rise in its place as the polestar of the media firmament, there is some hope that people in the press or in Hollywood may have to update their priors once more about how young activists actually talk and behave.
—WIRED, 16 Nov. 2022
The Brazilian restaurant has been lauded widely as a polestar of exciting food in the city.
—Dallas News, 13 Oct. 2022
And, of course, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn’s polestar for art and repertory programming.
—Vulture Editors, Vulture, 21 Jan. 2022
Brian Domitrovic, Forbes.com, 19 July 2025
While his Late Night forerunner Letterman was probably the comedic polestar of Generation X—gruff, cynical, and biting the hand that fed—O’Brien became a bedrock influence for the next generation of Millennial comics.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 22 Mar. 2025
Maison Proust, Paris (Image credit: Maison Proust) Opulence is the polestar at Maison Proust.
—Catherine Garcia, theweek, 7 Nov. 2024
Durazzi had horses freely roaming the garden; inside the gallery, models were standing on a felt-padded plinth, while images of women who are the designer’s polestars—artists, scientists, and intellectuals from Phoebe Boswell to Carla Cerati to Ottessa Moshfegh—were projected on their faces.
—Tiziana Cardini, Vogue, 15 Mar. 2023
As Twitter appears to go down in flames, with nothing on the horizon to rise in its place as the polestar of the media firmament, there is some hope that people in the press or in Hollywood may have to update their priors once more about how young activists actually talk and behave.
—WIRED, 16 Nov. 2022
The Brazilian restaurant has been lauded widely as a polestar of exciting food in the city.
—Dallas News, 13 Oct. 2022
And, of course, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn’s polestar for art and repertory programming.
—Vulture Editors, Vulture, 21 Jan. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for polestar
Noun
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Otherwise, any force will find itself without a compass or the means to deal with criminal groups.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
26 Sep. 2025
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Even the acronym of GPS jibed with her view of how a kid’s own resourcefulness could be used as an inner compass.—
Shawn Price,
Oc Register,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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With both teams aiming to avoid a 1–3 start, this game presents an opportunity for one to gain momentum and establish a positive direction for the rest of the season.—
Ben Verbrugge,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Sep. 2025
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Don’t pull over in the roundabout Roundabouts with a single lane of traffic in each direction are fairly simple – yield to traffic in the roundabout, wait for a gap in traffic and go through, Bryson said.—
Eric D. Lawrence,
USA Today,
28 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Polestar.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/polestar. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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