pointillistic

adjective

poin·til·lis·tic ˌpȯin-tə-ˈli-stik ˌpwaⁿ(n)-tē-ˈyi-stik

variants or less commonly pointillist

ˈpȯin-tə-list ˌpwaⁿ(n)-tē-ˈyēst

: composed of many discrete details or parts

: of, relating to, or characteristic of pointillism or pointillists

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In the late 19th century, Neo-Impressionists discovered that contrasting dots of color applied side by side would blend together and be perceived as a luminous whole when seen from a distance. With this knowledge, they developed the technique of pointillism, also known as divisionism. By the 1920s, the adjective pointillistic was being used as a word describing something having many details or parts, such as an argument or musical composition; it was then applied to the art of pointillism and its artists, the pointillists.

Examples of pointillistic in a Sentence

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The pointillistic eclecticism of @NYT_first_said does tend to highlight the linguistic extremes—the novelties and the gags and the groaners. —Max Norman, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2023 Its pointillistic portrait of the world of Earn, Glover’s character, could, at times, give us little onto which to grasp. —Daniel D'addario, Variety, 7 Nov. 2022