Word.ws English Dictionary

finger-point

finger-point verb: to point with a finger (at someone or something). Also the alternative form of finger point.

Verb

finger-point (third-person singular simple present finger-points, present participle finger-pointing, simple past and past participle finger-pointed)

  1. (intransitive) To point with a finger (at someone or something).
    • He was encouraged to finger-point at words while reading.1975, Eleanor Frances Brown, “Case Studies”, in Bibliotherapy and Its Widening Applications, Metuchen, N.J.: The Scarecrow Press, →ISBN, page 374
    • Last Wednesday, Graham and George Washington’s Tom Tate almost came to blows after a finger-pointing episode. […] Graham does not finger-point to show for fans. He does it because it comes to mind in the natural flow of the game, as it comes to every player’s mind.1979 January 5, Betty Cuniberti, “Ernest Graham”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 Jul 2025
  2. (figuratively, informal, intransitive) To assign blame (to) or accuse (someone or something).
    • As the family crumbles, society finger-points: “First, it was teachers and schools; it must be their fault. Then single mothers; it must be their fault. Now, we’re moving on to fathers,” [Richard] Louv writes.1993 June 17, Beverly Beyette, “In Your (Celebrity) Dreams”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 Jul 2025
    • The spokesman for the White House, Ari Fleischer, said it was “time for everybody concerned to take a deep breath, to stop finger-pointing and to work well together.”2002 September 26, Carl Hulse, Todd S[tanley] Purdum, “Daschle Defends Democrats’ Stand on Security”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from...

Also used as

finger-point is also the alternative form of finger point.

Examples of finger-point in a sentence

  • At times, he finger-pointed at the horizon, to the enemy that existed anywhere out there, somewhere.2001, Jorge Reyes, “Fidel”, in Rediscovering Cuba: A Personal Memoir, Lincoln, Neb.: Writers Club Press, →ISBN, page 69:
  • Strzok smirked as the joint committee members fought one another, yelled for points of order or parliamentary inquiries, talked over one another and finger-pointed.2018 July 16, Michael Bloomer, “Peter Strzok’s hearing made everyone look bad”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington...
  • The rumor that the four “Sex and the City” girls were really four gay men was merely urban legend, she said, and finger-pointed conservative author Ann Coulter as its source.2003 August 7, Susan Carpenter, “More glamour, dish from the ‘Sex’-y gal”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times...
  • More flagrantly, the Delhi police themselves closed some 241 cases after survivors finger-pointed particular senior officers.2014 October 31, Jasmeet K. Ahuja, “India’s new prime minister promised to investigate a genocide against Sikhs. Why hasn’t he?”, in The...

Forms of finger-point

Verb
third-person singular presentfinger-points
present participlefinger-pointing
past participlefinger-pointed
pastfinger-pointed
alternative formfinger point
alternative formfingerpoint
Noun
pluralfinger-points

Words formed from finger-point

Questions about finger-point

What does finger-point mean?
Finger-point means to point with a finger (at someone or something).
How do you use finger-point in a sentence?
At times, he finger-pointed at the horizon, to the enemy that existed anywhere out there, somewhere.
What part of speech is finger-point?
Finger-point is a verb.
What is the past tense of finger-point?
The past tense of finger-point is finger-pointed.

Words near finger-point in the dictionary

  1. finger-painting
  2. finger-paints
  3. finger-parted
  4. finger-piece
  5. finger-pieces
  6. finger-point
  7. finger-pointed
  8. finger-pointer
  9. finger-pointers
  10. finger-pointing
  11. finger-pointings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: finger-point (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “finger-point.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/finger-point. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.