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
-
The problem is that these estimates gradually accumulate errors over time, causing the navigational equivalent of a slowly drifting compass.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
8 June 2026
-
Today’s mothers are expected to be both hyperrational project managers — scheduling enrichment, monitoring nutrition, tracking developmental milestones — and deeply intuitive caregivers, continuously consulting their emotional compass for guidance about their children and themselves.—
Nina Bandelj,
Chicago Tribune,
6 June 2026
Noun
-
Reid plays this so well, but the direction is a little over the top, with drug-trip visuals that are too distracting to follow the dense-as-ever disjointed narration.—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
8 June 2026
-
The suspect appeared to fire a gun indiscriminately in the direction of several people and then ran back toward the apartments, Perez said.—
Lillie Davidson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
7 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Polestar.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/polestar. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.
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