focal point
noun
Simple meaning
The centre of any activity.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
fohkuhlpoyntSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfoʊkəlˈpɔɪnt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The centre of any activity.
optics
A focus; a point at which rays of light or other radiation converge.
art
A feature that attracts particular attention.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The centre of any activity.
Used this way, focal point is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “focal point” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.
