Word.ws English Dictionary

point blank

point blank adjective: the distance between a gun and a target such that it requires minimal effort in aiming it. In particular no allowance needs to be made for effects of gravity, target movement or wind in aiming the projectile.

Adjective

point blank (not comparable)

  1. The distance between a gun and a target such that it requires minimal effort in aiming it. In particular no allowance needs to be made for effects of gravity, target movement or wind in aiming the projectile.
  2. Blunt, outright.
    • Here I was brought into point blank collison with Rev. Dr. Cox, who made me the subject not only of bitter remark in the convention, but also of a long denunciatory letter published in the New York Evangelist and other American papers.1855, Frederick Douglass, chapter XXIV, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York; Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], →OCLC
    • Again I had an opportunity of asking him a point blank question, and again my delicacy prevented me from forcing another man to confide in me.1887, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “A Study in Scarlet”, in Beeton’s Christmas Annual, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward, Lock & Co., part I (Being a reprint from the reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., […])...

Adverb

point blank (not comparable)

  1. Horizontally (as the angle at which a projectile is launched); directly or straight (at the target).
  2. (idiomatic) Directly; bluntly; without pretense or caution.
    • I asked him point blank whether he was cheating on his wife.
    • There’s a neighbor named Brace Dunlap that’s been wanting to marry their Benny for three months, and at last they told him point blank and once for all, he COULDN’T; so he has soured on them, and they’re worried about it.1896, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter I, in Tom Sawyer, Detective

point blank meaning in Tamil and Telugu

point blank in Tamil

நேருக்குநேராக

point blank in Telugu

directly; bluntly; without pretense or caution
ముఖం మీద కొట్టినట్లు mukhaṁ mīda koṭṭinaṭlu

Questions about point blank

What does point blank mean?
Point blank means the distance between a gun and a target such that it requires minimal effort in aiming it. In particular no allowance needs to be made for effects of gravity, target movement or wind in aiming the projectile.
What is point blank in Tamil?
Point blank in Tamil is நேருக்குநேராக. See Point blank meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is point blank?
Point blank can be an adjective or an adverb.

Words near point blank in the dictionary

  1. point at infinity
  2. Point au Gaul
  3. point bar
  4. Point Barrow
  5. point bars
  6. point blank
  7. point blanket
  8. point blankets
  9. point break
  10. point breaks
  11. point charge

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: point blank (page history and authors); point blank (Tamil Wiktionary) (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-point blank.ogg.

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